Abstract B39: A pilot study of neuropsychological functions, APOE, and amyloid imaging in patients with gliomas

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Abstract Patients with brain tumors treated with radiotherapy (RT) often develop cognitive dysfunction, and recent studies suggest that the apolipoprotein (APOE) ε-4 allele may influence cognitive outcome. The ε-4 allele promotes beta (β) amyloid deposition in the cortex, and preliminary evidence suggests that RT may be associated with β-amyloid deposition. In this pilot study, we assessed neuropsychological functions and β-amyloid retention using 18F-florbetaben PET in a subset of brain tumor patients who participated in our study of APOE polymorphisms and cognitive functions. Twenty glioma patients treated with conformal RT ± chemotherapy participated in the study: 6 were APOE ε-4 carriers and 14 were non-ε-4 carriers. Patients completed a neuropsychological reevaluation and brain MRI and 18F-florbetaben PET scans. The results of Wilcoxon rank sums test comparisons between prior and current assessments showed a significant decline in selective attention (Brief Test of Attention, p=0.018), and a near-significant decline in verbal learning (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Learning, p=0.07). Comparisons between assessments by APOE status showed a significant decline in attention and working memory (WAIS-III digits forward, p=0.028 and digits backward, p=0.032) among APOE ε-4 carriers. Comparisons of PET regional standard uptake value ratios (SUVRs) showed near-significant differences for the medial temporal cortex (p=0.069) and the putamen (p=0.069), with non-ε-4 carriers having higher SUVRs. The findings suggest that glioma patients may experience progressive worsening in attention and executive functions several years after treatment with RT ± chemotherapy, and that the APOE ε-4 allele may moderate cognitive decline. Note: This abstract was not presented at the conference. Citation Format: Denise Correa, Maria Kryza-Lacombe, Xiaosun Zhou, Raymond Baser, Brad Beattie, Zodina Beiene, Irene Orlow, John Humm, Lisa DeAngelis, Wolfgang Weber, Joseph Osborne. A pilot study of neuropsychological functions, APOE, and amyloid imaging in patients with gliomas [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr B39.