The Effects of Chemotherapy on Useful Field of View (UFOV) in Younger and Older Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

Chemotherapy is thought to cause cognitive deficits in some breast cancer patients, but the relative effects on older and younger breast cancer patients are unknown. The effects of chemotherapy on everyday cognitive tasks have not been examined. Thirty-eight female breast cancer survivors (3 to 45 months post chemotherapy) were compared to 55 age-matched control participants. Participants completed the Useful Field of View (UFOV), a computerized test of visual information processing that has been shown to decline with age, and which has been used to predict older adults' driving performance. Older chemotherapy patients performed more poorly than controls on the UFOV speed of processing, but not on the other two components. They also performed more poorly than younger chemotherapy patients. On the divided attention and selective attention components of the UFOV, older participants performed more poorly than younger participants, but there were no significant differences between chemotherapy patients and controls. These findings are explained in terms of brain changes thought to be caused by chemotherapy, which might have the most impact on older adults, already at risk for behavioral slowing.

Chemotherapy and Cognitive Impairment: Treatment Options

“…Eberhardt et al 73 found that older patients with hematologic disease or cancer of the intestinal tract had greater memory impairments shortly after the start of chemotherapy but that these impairments resolved by 6 months after completion of treatment. 74 AdamsPrice and colleagues 75 found that older survivors of breast cancer who had received chemotherapy between 3 and 45 months prior to the evaluation showed greater impairments in a test of processing speed than younger survivors and agematched healthy controls. These pre liminary results need to be expanded on with further research to investigate other cognitive domains that are commonly affected by chemotherapy over the long term.…”

Decline in Cognitive Function in Older Adults With Early-Stage Breast Cancer After Adjuvant Treatment

“…Age is a risk factor for cognitive decline, and older adults are thought to be more vulnerable to the adverse cognitive effects of cancer and its treatments [4][5][6][7]. Indeed, 11%-41% of elderly patients had cognitive dysfunctions before adjuvant breast cancer treatment [8,9].…”

Can Breast Cancer Survivors Benefit from Speed of Processing Training? A Perspective Article on Treatment and Research

“…Thus, slowed SOP is among the more commonly reported impairments found in BCS and is more pronounced in older BCS and especially in those treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy regimens. 7,10,56,57 The finding that SOP is particularly affected in BCS provides support for the accelerated aging hypothesis. Hurria et al investigated cognitive impairment using neuropsychological tests in a group of older BCS (median age of 71 years) before chemotherapy and 6 months after chemotherapy.…”

“…Adams-Price et al investigated treated and untreated BCS aged 39-71 years old and age-matched cognitively normal controls. 56 They found that older BCS treated with chemotherapy performed significantly worse than the control group and the younger BCS treated with chemotherapy, but only on the SOP component of the UFOV ® test. Ahles et al administered neuropsychological testing to a group of younger and older BCS treated with or without chemotherapy.…”