Abstract
ObjectivesChemotherapy induces cognitive impairments including memory impairment attention deficit and executive dysfunction in patients with breast cancer (BC) during or after chemotherapy. Previous studies identified brain structural and functional changes in BC patients receiving chemotherapy; however, there are no studies assessing functional connectivity (FC) between homotopic brain regions in BC patients using a voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method. In the present study, we explored cognitive function and whole brain homotopic FC in BC patients receiving chemotherapy compared with healthy controls using the VMHC method.MethodsThe present cross-sectional study included 35 premenopausal women with breast cancer who received chemotherapy, as well as 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). All subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measured homotopic brain FC, and cognitive neuropsychological assessments evaluating attention, memory, and executive function domains.ResultsThe BC group had lower VMHC than the HC group in the cingulated posterior, insular and postcentral regions. No region exhibited higher VMHC in the BC group than in HC group. Correlation analysis in the BC group indicated that VMHC values in the cingulated posterior were significantly correlated with executive function tests, and that the VMHC values in the insular were significantly correlated with memory tests.ConclusionThe present study showed that VMHC decreased in different brain regions including cingulated posterior, insular and postcentral regions. A significant correlation was observed between the VMHC values in the brain regions and neuropsychological tests. These results suggested that changes in VMHC values in different brain regions may underlie cognitive changes in BC patients receiving chemotherapy.
Highlights
Breast cancer (BC) is a common invasive disease in women
We explored cognitive function and whole-brain homotopic functional connectivity (FC) in BC patients after chemotherapy compared with healthy controls (HCs) using a voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method
The current study strongly suggested that cognitive impairment and decreased VMHC exist in BC patients receiving chemotherapy
Summary
Breast cancer (BC) is a common invasive disease in women. Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy have improved the survival of patients with BC. There is evidence that chemotherapy induces cognitive impairments including memory impairment, attention deficit, and executive dysfunction in patients with BC (Tong et al, 2018). These cognitive impairments affect long-term quality of life. One cognitive function study suggested that the decrease in attention in patients is not associated with chemotherapy. These inconsistent results may be a result from differences in experimental design and population heterogeneity (Vardy et al, 2007; Barton, 2013). It is essential to select a consistent group of neurophysiological tests to assess cognitive impairment
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