People with history of cancer shown to have more memory problems

Carol Forsloff - "This
study suggests these memory issues are more common than had been
recognized before, and should be assessed in all patients with a history
of cancer,”scientists warn, to alert folks to cancer issues the public
might not know as a serious problem.

cognitive problems found in people with history of cancer - wikimedia commons

“The
findings show that memory impairment in cancer patients is a national
problem that we must pay special attention to,” said Pascal Jean-Pierre,
Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at the University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine, department of pediatrics, and the Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is referring to research showing how
memory impairment has been found in cancer patients at a rate of 40
percent.

Memory
problems impacting people with a history of cancer include those that
impact daily functioning.  Research was done on a cross-section of 9,819
individuals with various types of cancers, such as breast and prostate
cancer.  Results have recently been presented at the Third AACR
Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities.

Jean-Pierre
added scientists are testing therapies for cancer patients while as yet
there is no curative treatment yet for memory impairment.  He reminds
people that doctors can help their patients in many ways, including with
memory skills.

“One
of the most important parts of cancer treatment is management of
symptoms, such as impairments in attention, memory and fatigue, in order
to improve a patient’s quality of life. This study suggests these
memory issues are more common than had been recognized before, and
should be assessed in all patients with a history of cancer,”
Jean-Pierre said.

 Those
with cancer were 40 percent more likely to have memory issues related
to daily functioning than other participants according to the recent
study.

“The
findings indicate that cancer is, therefore, a key independent
predictor of memory problems in the sample studied,” said Jean-Pierre.
He refers to the problem as “cancer related cognitive dysfunction.”

“These
memory issues can be related to treatment, such as chemotherapy,
radiation, and hormone therapies, or to the tumor biology itself, which
could change brain chemistry and neurobehavioral function,” said

Jean-Pierre.