Abstract #4220

Longitudinal Assessment of Chemotherapy-Induced Structural Changes in Cerebral White Matter & Its Correlation with Impaired Cognitive Functioning in Breast Cancer Patients

Sabine Deprez¹, Frederic Amant², Judith Verhoeven¹, Ann Smeets², Marie-Rose Christiaens², Alexander Leemans³, Ron Peeters¹, Wim Van Hecke¹, Joris Vandenberghe⁴, Mathieu Vandenbulcke⁴, Stefan Sunaert¹

¹Department of Radiology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, K.U. Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; ²Multidisciplinary Breast Center, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, K.U. Leuven; ³Image Sciences Institute, Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht; ⁴Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, K.U. Leuven

Cognitive impairment is a potential adverse effect of systemic cancer treatment. In this longitudinal DTI study we assessed breast-cancer patients (n=34) before and after chemotherapy and evaluated possible changes in WM FA in combination with cognitive assessment. Voxel-based paired T-test revealed significantly decreased FA after treatment in frontal, parietal and occipital WM tracts, while this effect was not present in control groups assessed at matched intervals (non-chemotherapy-treated patients (n=16) and healthy-controls (n=19)). Significant correlations between differences in FA and differences in attention and verbal memory scores were found. These results suggest a link between WM integrity and treatment-induced impaired cognition.