Analyzing Self-Reported Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment in Breast, Other Forms of Cancer

A study analyzed the correlation between cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) in patients taking chemotherapy for breast, gastrointestinal, gynecological, or lung cancer and neurotransmission pathways. The findings were reported in the Journal of Neural Transmission. 

In this study, researchers assessed 508 patients who completed the Attentional Function Index six times over two cycles of chemotherapy. They quantified gene expression using either ribonucleic (RNA)-sequencing or microarray analyses and pathway impact analyses.

According to the results, of 261 patients in the RNA-sequencing sample, almost half (48.7%) were in the High class and over half (51.3%) were in the Low class. Of the 247 patients the microarray sample, 46.6% were in the High class and 53.4% were in the Low class. Overall, the analysis identified seven perturbed pathways related to neurotransmission (i.e., glutamatergic synapse, GABAergic synapse, dopaminergic synapse, serotonergic synapse, long-term depression, cholinergic synapse, retrograde endocannabinoid signaling).

“This study is the first to describe associations between self-reported CRCI in patients receiving chemotherapy for breast, gastrointestinal, gynecological, or lung cancer and seven neurotransmission pathways. These findings provide new insights into potential targets for mechanistically based interventions,” the researchers concluded.