Long-Term Cognitive Impairment from Chemotherapy May Be Linked to Cerebral Microbleeds

Compared with cancer-free controls, Dutch breast cancer survivors exposed to chemotherapy and radiation had more cerebral microbleeds, and microbleeds in deep or infratentorial regions were associated with worse verbal memory and processing speed.

Studies have shown that cancer treatments, particularly chemotherapy and radiation, may increase stroke risk. Furthermore, it is well known that chemotherapy can lead to “chemo brain” — chemotherapy-induced cognitive dysfunction. However, the mechanism by which chemotherapy causes cognitive dysfunction is uncertain. In this study, researchers compared magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers of cerebral small vessel disease in 187 Dutch breast cancer survivors exposed to chemotherapy and radiation an average of 21 years previously and in 374 age-matched controls without cancer. The authors also performed cognitive testing on study patients to investigate the association between cerebral small vessel disease and cognition.

Cancer survivors ha…

Reviewing Author

Babak B. Navi, MD

Long-Term Cognitive Impairment from Chemotherapy May Be Linked to Cerebral Microbleeds

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Reviewing Author