Androgen-Deprivation Therapy May Lead to Cognitive Impairment in Prostate Cancer Patients
Cognitive impairment can occur in cancer patients who are treated with a variety of therapies, including radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy. This side effect, when occurring with chemotherapy, is commonly referred to as “chemobrain.” Signs of cognitive impairment include forgetfulness, inability to concentrate, trouble multitasking, and issues with information processing. It is estimated that 15% to 70% of cancer patients experience some kind of cognitive impairment as a result of treatment.
There have been several studies analyzing this side effect in breast cancer patients, but few have investigated cognitive impairment following androgen-deprivation therapy for men being treated for prostate cancer. A new Moffitt Cancer Center study indicates that men who are on androgen-deprivation therapy have greater odds of experiencing impaired cognitive function. These results were published by Gonzalez et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Study Details
About 44% of prostate cancer patients undergo androgen-deprivation therapy at some point in their treatment, and it is often used on an open-ended basis for advanced prostate cancer.
In this study, researchers compared the cognitive ability of 58 prostate cancer patients receiving androgen-deprivation therapy with 84 prostate cancer patients who did not receive androgen-deprivation therapy and 88 men without cancer. The research showed that the men treated with androgen-deprivation therapy were 70% more likely to experience cognitive impairment at 6 months and more than twice as likely to experience cognitive impairment at 1-year follow-up.
The researchers also reported for the first time a possible genetic link among those individuals who experience cognitive impairment during androgen-deprivation therapy. It was found that patients who have a particular version of the GNB3 gene were 14 times more likely to suffer from cognitive problems following androgen-deprivation therapy.
“Studies like ours show the importance of identifying genetic predictors of cognitive impairment. This information can be used to further personalize cancer care based on patients’ unique characteristics and to find patients who may be prone to be intolerant of this standard type of treatment,” said Mayer Fishman, MD, PhD, Senior Member of Moffitt’s Genitourinary Oncology Program.
The results of this study may have implications for physicians trying to decide on the best therapeutic options for their patients. “The risk of cognitive impairment should be considered when deciding whether or not to receive androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer,” said Brian Gonzalez, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Health Outcomes and Behavior Program at Moffitt.
Dr. Gonzalez is the corresponding author of the Journal of Clinical Oncology article.
The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute. For full disclosures of the study authors, visit jco.ascopubs.org.
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
