Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Dec;139(3):541-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2015.10.003. Epub 2015 Oct 9.

Cognitive function during and six months following chemotherapy for front-line treatment of ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer: An NRG oncology/gynecologic oncology group study

Lisa M Hess  1 , Helen Q Huang  2 , Alexandra L Hanlon  3 , William R Robinson  4 , Rhonda Johnson  5 , Setsuko K Chambers  6 , Robert S Mannel  7 , Larry Puls  8 , Susan A Davidson  9 , Michael Method  10 , Shashikant Lele  11 , Laura Havrilesky  12 , Tina Nelson  13 , David S Alberts  14
Affiliations

Cognitive function during and six months following chemotherapy for front-line treatment of ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer: An NRG oncology/gynecologic oncology group study

Lisa M Hess et al. Gynecol Oncol. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: Changes in cognitive function have been identified in and reported by many cancer survivors. These changes have the potential to impact patient quality of life and functional ability. This prospective longitudinal study was designed to quantify the incidence of change in cognitive function in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients throughout and following primary chemotherapy.

Methods: Eligible patients had newly diagnosed, untreated ovarian cancer and had planned to receive chemotherapy. Web-based and patient reported cognitive assessments and quality of life questionnaires were conducted prior to chemotherapy, prior to cycle four, after cycle six, and six months after completion of primary therapy.

Results: Two-hundred-thirty-one evaluable patients entered this study between May 2010 and October 2011. At the cycle 4 time point, 25.2% (55/218) of patients exhibited cognitive impairment in at least one domain. At the post-cycle 6 and 6-month follow up time points, 21.1% (44/208) and 17.8% (30/169) of patients, respectively, demonstrated impairment in at least one domain of cognitive function. There were statistically significant, but clinically small, improvements in processing speed (p<0.001) and attention (p<0.001) but not in motor response time (p=0.066), from baseline through the six-month follow up time period.

Conclusions: This was a large, prospective study designed to measure cognitive function in ovarian cancer. A subset of patients had evidence of cognitive decline from baseline during chemotherapy treatment in this study as measured by the web-based assessment; however, changes were generally limited to no more than one domain.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Cognitive function; Ovarian cancer; Prospective trial; Quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

Dr. Lisa Hess was an employee of Indiana University during the conduct and completion of this study. After completion of this work she accepted a position at Eli Lilly and Co. Dr. Robert Mannel received per capita funding for performing research through the Gynecologic Oncology Group, NCI. He also served on the Advisory Board for clinical trial development with Amgen, Advaxis, MedImmune, Astra Zeneca, Oxigene and Endocyte.

All other co-authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CONSORT patient flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hopkins RO, Jackson JC. Long-term neurocognitive function after critical illness. Chest. 2006;130:869–878. - PubMed
    1. Tannock IF, Ahles TA, Ganz PA, Van Dam FS. Cognitive impairment associated with chemotherapy for cancer: report of a workshop. J Clin Oncol. 2004;22:2233–2239. - PubMed
    1. Correa DD, Ahles TA. Neurocognitive changes in cancer survivors. Cancer J. 2008;14:396–400. - PubMed
    1. Hermelink K, Untch M, Lux MP, Kreienberg R, Beck T, Bauerfeind I, et al. Cognitive function during neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: results of a prospective, multicenter, longitudinal study. Cancer. 2007;109:1905–1913. - PubMed
    1. Taillibert S, Voillery D, Bernard-Marty C. Chemobrain: is systemic chemotherapy neurotoxic? Curr Opin Oncol. 2007;19:623–627. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances