Chemo Has Long-term Impact on Brain Function
(Washington, Reuters Health, 10/5/06)

Daniel Silverman of UCLA, Los Angeles, and team, studied 21 women whose breast tumors had been surgically removed. Sixteen had received chemotherapy and five had not. When the investigators compared positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the brains of these women with those of 13 others who had not had breast cancer, the scientists found that subjects who had undergone chemotherapy five to 10 years earlier had lower metabolism in key areas of their brains. These findings indicate that chemotherapy may produce long-term changes in brain metabolism that cause the cognitive dysfunction and confusion, dubbed “chemo brain,” which patients often experience after undergoing treatment.

(Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, online edition, October 2006)