People who have recovered from cancer frequently have difficulty concentrating and remembering. These would not only be linked to chemotherapy, but would be present as soon as tumors form.
It is called “chemo brain” in English, “post-chemotherapy cognitive difficulties” or “brain fog”. An expression that describes the memory and thinking problems that cancer patients who recover after treatment sometimes experience. Researchers have shown that these problems are not only the result of chemotherapy, but are actually present in the early stages of tumor development. The study was published in the newspaper Neuroscience.
A study in cancerous mice
After chemotherapy, 65% of people with breast cancer say they have memory problems, difficulty concentrating, taking longer to complete certain tasks and difficulty multitasking. A phenomenon also described by patients with other types of cancer.
The researchers conducted a study on an animal model of cancer, female mice with breast cancer. They perform poorly on learning and memory tests even before chemotherapy treatments. According to Doctor Gordon Winocur, one of the main authors of the study, this shows that cancer is responsible for these “neurocognitive” disorders (memory and thought), and that chemotherapy only worsens them.
Three effects of cancer on the brain
In this model, the researchers found three main changes in the brain due to cancer. First, the development of the tumor induces a reaction in the body: it causes inflammation in the nervous system (production of pro-inflammatory proteins or “cytokines”) which affects its functioning. Next, chemotherapy reduces the production of brain cells in the region of the brain that is responsible for memory function (hippocampus). Finally, the combination of tumor growth and treatment with chemotherapy causes the regions of the brain responsible for learning and memory to shrink.
Side effects on the brain can affect the quality of life of patients and even cause anxiety or depression. Hence the need to act early to cure them better.
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