Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated a strong inverse association between cancer and risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to further investigate this association by examining measures of cognitive performance and neuroimaging. Neuropsychological (NP) test batteries consisting of quantitative measures of memory and executive function and volumetric brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans measuring brain and white-matter hyperintensity volumes were administered to 2,043 dementia-free participants (54% women) in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) Offspring cohort from 1999-2005. History of cancer was assessed at examination visits and through hospital records. Linear regression was used to examine the association between cancer history and NP/MRI variables. There were 252 and 1,791 participants with and without a previous history of cancer, respectively. Cancer survivors had an average time between diagnosis and NP/MRI exam of 9.8 years. History of any invasive cancer was associated with better executive function (Beta=0.16, p=0.04) but not memory function. Non-invasive cancer was not associated with any change in cognitive performance. Patients with prostate cancer had larger frontal brain volumes (Beta=4.13, p=0.03). Cancer history was not associated with any other MRI measure. We did not find any strong evidence linking cancer to cognitive or neuroimaging biomarkers that would explain a lower risk of subsequent AD, although a previous FHS study demonstrated a strong inverse association between cancer and risk of AD. Future work should examine the association between cancer and other biomarkers of AD as well as more sensitive metrics of AD-related brain aging markers.
Highlights
A large body of evidence suggests an unusual relationship between cancer and neurodegenerative disorders [1,2]
Neuropsychological (NP) test batteries consisting of quantitative measures of memory and executive function and volumetric brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans measuring brain and whitematter hyperintensity volumes were administered to 2043 dementia-free participants (54% women) in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) Offspring cohort from 1999 to 2005
Cancer survivors had an average time between diagnosis and NP/MRI exam of 9.8 years
Summary
A large body of evidence suggests an unusual relationship between cancer and neurodegenerative disorders [1,2]. In contrast to its relationship with AD, cancer is not associated with a lower risk of vascular-type dementia, and has been positively associated with the development of cerebrovascular disease [3,8]. Such an inverse association is biologically plausible, as AD and cancer share a number of genes and pathways that are expressed in opposite directions [11]. This study aimed to further investigate this association by examining measures of cognitive performance and neuroimaging
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