We've noticed that you're using an ad blocker

Our content is brought to you free of charge because of the support of our advertisers. To continue enjoying our content, please turn off your ad blocker.

It's off now Dismiss How do I disable my ad blocker?
❌

How to disable your ad blocker for our site:

Adblock / Adblock Plus
  • Click on the AdBlock / AdBlock Plus icon on the top right of your browser.
  • Click “Don’t run on pages on this domain.” OR “Enabled on this site.”
  • Close this help box and click "It's off now".
Firefox Tracking Prevention
  • If you are Private Browsing in Firefox, "Tracking Protection" may casue the adblock notice to show. It can be temporarily disabled by clicking the "shield" icon in the address bar.
  • Close this help box and click "It's off now".
Ghostery
  • Click the Ghostery icon on your browser.
  • In Ghostery versions < 6.0 click “Whitelist site.” in version 6.0 click “Trust site.”
  • Close this help box and click "It's off now".
uBlock / uBlock Origin
  • Click the uBlock / uBlock Origin icon on your browser.
  • Click the “power” button in the menu that appears to whitelist the current website
  • Close this help box and click "It's off now".
  • ONCOLOGY
  • News
  • Blogs
  • Topics
  • Hematology
  • Image IQ
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Slideshows
  • Conferences

Modern Medicine Network
  • Login
  • Register
Skip to main content
Modern Medicine Network
  • Login
  • Register
Menu
User
Home
  • ONCOLOGY
  • News
  • Blogs
  • Topics
  • Hematology
  • Image IQ
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Slideshows
  • Conferences

SUBSCRIBE: Print / eNewsletter

Peri- and Premenopausal Women More at Risk for Cognitive Impairment After Chemotherapy

Jul 1, 2006
Volume: 
15
Issue: 
7
  • Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer, Palliative and Supportive Care

AMELIA ISLAND, Florida—Peri- and premenopausal women may be more at risk for cognitive impairment than postmenopausal women as a result of adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, according to preliminary data presented at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) Third Annual Conference (abstract P3-5). The finding may help identify a susceptible population to target with intervention, said Tara J. Patton, MSPH, research specialist at the Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson.

"Many breast cancer patients say they have less ability to remember things after chemotherapy. We know estrogen is important for cognition, and one of the consequences of chemotherapy can be a premature menopause. We wanted to determine if menopausal status could affect results of memory tests among breast cancer patients who had received adjuvant chemotherapy," Ms. Patton said.

In their study of 41 breast cancer survivors, funded by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Ms. Patton and her colleague Kris L. Kaemingk compared women who were premenopausal at diagnosis with those who were peri—menopausal and postmenopausal regarding memory and working memory. All patients had completed chemotherapy at least 1-year prior to the evaluation. The tests given were the the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition (WMS-III) Logical Memory, Rey Auditory Learning Verbal Test (RAVLT), and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III). Memory was also assessed with the WMS-III Logical Memory Ideas Recalled and RAVLT Delayed Recall. The WAIS-III WMI (Working Memory Index) was used to assess working memory. Participants also completed a medical interview that included questions about their menopausal status at diagnosis. Most (24) were postmenopausal, 11 were premenopausal, and 6 were perimenopausal.

Overall, the women who were diagnosed postmenopausally performed the best on all the memory measures. The perimenopausal women performed the worst, and premenopausal women performed intermediately (see Table).

"We were a little surprised that the perimenopausal women tended to do worse. However, this is a preliminary finding, and there were only 6 women in that group. Also, most women don't really know if they are perimenopausal. Some may have been premenopausal, but because they were put into menopause suddenly by chemotherapy, they guessed they were perimenopausal," she said.

Her research in this area is continuing, with the development of an attention intervention targeted specifically at peri- and premenopausal women.

Related Articles

  • Prognostic Tool Can Guide Extended Endocrine Therapy in ER+ Breast Cancer
  • Forecasting PARP Inhibitor Resistance in Breast Cancer Patients
  • OncoMasTR Assay May Help Some Breast Cancer Patients Avoid Chemo
  • RAD51 Linked With PARP Inhibitor Resistance in BRCA-Mutated Breast Cancer
  • HER2+ Breast Cancer Subtypes Resistant to TKIs Through Differing Mechanisms

Resource Topics rightRail

  • Resource Topics
  • Partner Content
Breast Cancer
Lung Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Colorectal Cancer
Melanoma
Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas: Mycosis Fungoides and Sézary Syndrome
3 Keys to Success in the Oncology Care Model

Current Issue

Oncology Vol 32 No 4
Apr 15, 2018 Vol 32 No 4
Digital Edition
Subscribe
Connect with Us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
Modern Medicine Network
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Advertiser Terms
  • Privacy statement
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Editorial & Advertising Policy
  • Editorial Board
  • Contact Us
Modern Medicine Network
© UBM 2018, All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.