View clinical trials related to Chemo-brain.
Filter by:Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI), also known as "chemobrain," is the cognitive decline that negatively impacts the majority of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, and/or hormonal treatments. This application focuses on evaluating if using a cognitive mobile training application can decrease the impact of CRCI in gynecologic oncology patients through a multidisciplinary approach with patients undergoing assessments by our neurocognitive team.
The MyBrain study investigates the brain function of children, adolescents and young adults during and after chemo treatment for cancer. The tests include 1) cognitive skills such as memory and attention; 2) the brain's electrical activity; 3) and biological markers related to brain function. The aim of the study is to better understand the trajectories of cognitive functioning and measures that have been associated with cognitive impairment in patients treated with chemotherapy.
To explore the cognitive impairment caused by chemotherapy and endocrine therapy in premenopausal breast cancer patients and to find biomarkers with early predictive effect on this cognitive impairment by using multimodal integrated PET/MRI technology combined with psychobehavioral technology.
The investigators propose to apply neuroplasticity-based computerized cognitive remediation (nCCR) to treat chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI).
The purpose of this research study is to see how the brain changes in patients receiving chemotherapy (cytotoxic drug) treatment for colon or rectal cancer at Parkview Cancer Institute. This information will be used to identify helpful tests to diagnose individuals at risk for developing difficulties with thinking and memory due to their cancer treatments.
BACKGROUND Neurocognitive symptoms have a high prevalence in cancer patients, resulting in a significant impact on daily life and tolerance to therapy. It's estimated that about 30% of cancer patients present a cognitive impairment before treatment, about 75% present this cognitive impairment during the treatment, and about 35% continue to present cognitive difficulties in the following months/years. There is growing evidence that cognitive symptoms have a biological mechanism linked to the activation of immunological cytokines that exert important effects on the brain functions. For example, interferon α is known to increase the levels of IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α, and this increase is associated with memory deficits, executive function and mood alterations. A neurotoxic action induced by cytokines has been demonstrated both in the early stages of the tumor and after chemotherapy. Several imaging studies suggest that the cognitive impairment pattern in cancer patients, during the treatment and in remission, is related to structural and functional brain changes. Longitudinal studies in women with breast cancer treated with chemoterapy have shown a reduction in the volume of cerebral gray matter, mainly in the bilateral frontal cortex and hippocampus. In parallel, diffusion tensor imaging studies have shown an alteration of the integrity of the frontal, parietal and occipital cerebral white matter, demyelination and axonal degeneration processes. Finally, functional magnetic resonance studies in cancer patients have shown alterations in the connectivity of the default mode network compared to control subjects. Studies carried out to date, show a prevalent impairment of executive functions and working memory. Cognitive impairment has been studied mainly as a possible adverse effect in women treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer, while there are few studies in the literature on patients with haematological malignancies. STUDY DESIGN The study is targeted to patients ages ≥ 70 years, whith haematological malignancy, who need to start a treatment within 3 months. Once the eligibility criteria have been assessed, the hematologist proposes the enrollment in the study. Once the patient's informed consent has been acquired, a neurological examination is carried out, functional tests required by the protocol are administered. The patient begins, as per clinical practice, the treatment provided for his/her haematological malignancy. Test's evaluation is repeated at 6 months and 12 months after the enrollment. In conjunction with neurological tests, will be performed a venipuncture as per clinical practice, and a blood sample is taken to measure the cytokines involved in inflammatory processes. It is expected that a patient can perform up to a maximum of 3 blood samples for the biological study. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS This is a non-pharmacological, prospective, uncontrolled, open-label single-center interventional pilot study, aimed to describ the progress of cognitive function under treatment for haematological disease. Due to the pilot and exploratory nature of the study and the substantial absence of a specific literature relating to the elderly onco-haematological patient, it is not believed that the conditions exist to be able to formally define the size of the sample. The sample size is arbitrarily fixed at 60 patients. The observation time will be 12 months from enrollment.
In this pilot study, the investigators propose to test the efficacy of rTMS for the treatment of PCCI. Efficacy measures will include baseline and post-rTMS neuropsychological testing, functional MRI and biometry data using body worn sensors.
Purpose: To conduct a one-arm phase II trial to: (1) compare changes in pre- to post-chemotherapy cognitive function in a cohort of patients with breast cancer receiving memantine to historical controls; (2) examine how depression, anxiety, fatigue, baseline Intelligence Quotient (IQ), and cognitive effort relate to objective and self-reported cognitive function; and (3) estimate the feasibility of conducting a clinical trial of memantine for attenuating cognitive decline in patients with breast cancer during chemotherapy. Participants: Adult patients with stage I-III breast cancer scheduled for adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Procedures (methods): Cognitive assessments will be performed within one week of initiating and four weeks after completion of chemotherapy. Patients will receive memantine 10 mg twice daily between the pre- and post-chemotherapy study assessments. Cognitive function will be assessed objectively using a computerized cognitive test (Delayed Matching to Sample (DMS) test) and a standard neuropsychological battery. To assess subjective cognitive function, the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Cognitive Function measure will be used. Depression, anxiety, fatigue, menopausal status, and sleep will be assessed as covariates.
Chemobrain is an expression used to describe a cluster of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment symptoms, including problems with visual and verbal memory, forgetfulness, difficulty in learning, attention, concentration and coordination of multitasking and organization. Over 75% cancer patients experienced acute cognitive symptoms during chemotherapy and 17%-34% of them have long-term post-treatment cognitive deficits which can persist up to 10 years. Breast cancer survivors even display as high as 50%-75% prevalence of post-treatment cognitive impairment. Chemobrain has become an apparent quality-of-life issue for cancer survivors and will be encountered more frequently with the rise of the number of cancer survivors. There are no effective interventions available for preventing and treating chemobrain. Acupuncture is beneficial in reducing various side effects of anti-cancer treatment. It also shows the efficacy in improving mild cognitive impairment and other dementia disorders; facilitates the recovery of pathological microstructural changes of the brain. These results have led to the hypothesis that acupuncture is effective in preventing chemobrain and this preventive effect may be associated with the protection against cytokine production, epigenetic modification and microstructural changes of the brain. To test this hypothesis, an assessor-blinded, randomised controlled trial will be conducted to determine if a combination of DCEAS and body acupuncture could reduce the incidence and symptoms of chemobrain in breast cancer patients under chemotherapy compared to least acupuncture stimulation (LAS) as controls. A total of 168 breast cancer patients who are ready for chemotherapy will be randomly assigned to comprehensive acupuncture intervention (combined DCEAS and body acupuncture regimen + chemotherapy) (CAI) (n = 84) for 2 sessions per week for 8 weeks or least acupuncture stimulation (LAS) (minimal acupuncture + chemotherapy) (n = 84). All patients receive the standard chemotherapy of breast cancer. Treatment outcomes on cognitive performance, fatigue and the depression will be assessed.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of a nicotine patch as a treatment for problems with attention, learning and memory in breast cancer patients who are 1-5 years post chemotherapy.