What About “Endo-Brain”?

Breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy may be at risk for a decline in language and communication skills.

Patients often inquire about the possibility of experiencing “chemo-brain” with adjuvant chemotherapy. But a less commonly asked question is whether adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) will also have a negative impact on cognitive function. To address this concern, investigators used an observational cohort from the Mind Body Study (J Natl Cancer Inst 2013; 105:791) of patients with recently diagnosed, stage 0 to IIIA breast cancers who completed primary therapy but had not yet begun ET.

Of 173 participants, 70% initiated ET with tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor. Patients provided questionnaire information — the Beck Depression Inventory, the Rand 36-item health survey, and the Patient's Assessment of Own Functioning Inventory (PAOFI) — and u…

Reviewing Author

William J. Gradishar, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardLilly; AstraZeneca; Gilead

Grant/Research SupportBreast Cancer Research Foundation

Editorial BoardsClinical Breast Cancer; Oncology; Annals of Surgery; Breast Cancer Research and Treatment

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNational Comprehensive Cancer Network (Chair, Breast Cancer Panel); American Board of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology Board)