Evaluation of Perceived Cognitive Impairment Associated with Chemotherapy Among Breast Cancer Survivors in India

Arunima Datta¹, Prathama Guha^2* & Subpiramaniyam Sivakumar³

¹Dept. of Psychology, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Cancer Research Institute, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
²Institute of Psychiatry, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
³Associate Professor, Dept of Bioenvironmental Energy, College of Natural Resource & Life Science, Pusan National University, Miryang-si, Republic of Korea

Dr. Prathama Guha, Institute of Psychiatry, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Keywords: Cognitive Impairment; Breast Cancer; Chemotherapy

Abstract

Cognitive changes among diagnosed breast cancer patients are often attributed to chemotherapy, without considering other comorbid factors.
The present study evaluates the impact of chemotherapy on cognitive function among breast cancer patients those who were undergoing chemotherapy. The comparison was determined by the variation of the effect of DNA mechanism due to different types of chemo-medicine.
51 women with non-metastatic breast cancer those under-going chemotherapy were evaluated into two groups on the basis their chemo medicine: combination with 5-fluorouracil or without 5-fluorouracil. Cognitive impairment was signified with an assessment of validated Kolkata Cognitive Battery.
The relationship between cognitive function and different combination of chemotherapy along with dosages variation was compared between Group-1 and Group-2. Parsons’s “r” correlation revealed in changes of chemo medicine combination with 5FU Medicine: chemo cycle, verbal fluency and time, calculation, word memory Trail 1 and Trail 2 was significantly correlated with variation in chemo medicine. Chemo medicine combination Without 5FUMedicine: chemo cycle, verbal fluency, Object naming and time, MSE. However, in group 1, verbal fluency, object naming, delayed word memory and delayed word memory recognition were also significantly correlated with dosages variation of chemo-medicine.

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