Fatigue and resting-state functional brain networks in breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy

Abstract

Purpose This longitudinal study aimed to disentangle the impact of chemotherapy on fatigue and hypothetically associated functional brain network alterations. Methods In total, 34 breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy (BCC +), 32 patients not treated with chemotherapy (BCC −), and 35 non-cancer controls (NC) were included. Fatigue was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 fatigue subscale at two time points: baseline (T1) and six months after completion of chemotherapy or matched intervals (T2). Participants also underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI). An atlas spanning 90 cortical and subcortical brain regions was used to extract time series, after which Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to construct a brain network per participant per timepoint. Network measures of local segregation and global integration were compared between groups and timepoints and correlated with fatigue. Results As expected, fatigue increased over time in the BCC + group (p = 0.025) leading to higher fatigue compared to NC at T2 (p = 0.023). Meanwhile, fatigue decreased from T1 to T2 in the BCC − group (p = 0.013). The BCC + group had significantly lower local efficiency than NC at T2 (p = 0.033), while a negative correlation was seen between fatigue and local efficiency across timepoints and all participants (T1 rho = − 0.274, p = 0.006; T2 rho = − 0.207, p = 0.039). Conclusion Although greater fatigue and lower local functional network segregation co-occur in breast cancer patients after chemotherapy, the relationship between the two generalized across participant subgroups, suggesting that local efficiency is a general neural correlate of fatigue.

Remote assessment of cognitive dysfunction in hematologic malignancies using web‐based neuropsychological testing

“…However, our results contrast with previous studies that showed an association between fatigue and cognitive performance in patients with breast cancer 40,41 . Post hoc analysis of our data indicated that women in the cancer group endorsed significantly more fatigue than men ( F = 34.45, p < 0.001).…”

“…However, our results contrast with previous studies that showed an association between fatigue and cognitive performance in patients with breast cancer. 40,41 Post hoc analysis of our data indicated that women in the cancer group endorsed significantly more fatigue than men (F = 34.45, p < 0.001). However, given that there was no effect of sex on cognitive performance, the women may have been more resilient than the men with respect to brain health.…”

Changes in Degree Centrality and Functional Connectivity after the First Cycle of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer: A Longitudinal Study

“…According to neuropsychological test, in the NAC group, we found that SAS was significantly reduced at TP1 compared to TP0, which was similar to the results of most previous studies [ 26 – 28 ]. Breast cancer patients who suffer more negative effects from the disease and treatment in the beginning experience a higher level of anxiety [ 29 ].…”

Cross-Sectional Characterization of Local Brain Network Connectivity Pre and Post Breast Cancer Treatment and Distinct Association With Subjective Cognitive and Psychological Function

“…We previously showed that breast cancer survivors have altered brain network connectivity compared to healthy controls and chemotherapy naïve survivors (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). Other groups have subsequently observed similar findings (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20).…”