One of the side effects of cancer treatment is difficulty with brain function during treatment. Many cancer patients and survivors refer to this as "chemo brain." According to the Mayo Clinic, the types of treatment that can cause chemo brain are chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, radiation and surgery. According to the American Cancer Society (ASC), some patients experience chemo brain for a short amount of time while some patients have long term changes.
Symptoms
The Mayo Clinic reports the following symptoms of chemo brain: difficulty concentrating, mental fogginess and difficulty remembering details like conversations and recalling images. Learning new skills, multitasking, taking longer to complete tasks, exhaustion and being unusually disorganized are all effects of chemo brain. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) reports 17 to 75 percent of cancer survivors report mental changes resulting from chemotherapy.
Causes
The Mayo Clinic reports that cancer treatment itself can cause memory problems and so can the complications that result from the treatment. Complications from treatment can include; anemia, fatigue, infection, menopause, nutritional deficiencies and insomnia. According to ACS, image studies reveal that the parts brain responsible for memory, thought processing and behavior are smaller after chemotherapy. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and Harvard Medical School have linked the commonly used chemotherapy drug 5-flurourocial (5-FU) to chemo brain. The drug, 5-FU has been used to treat many types of cancers such as; breast, ovarian, stomach, colon, pancreas and others. 5-FU blocks cell division and has been used for more than 40 years. The scientists at URMC and Harvard Medical School exposed mice to the 5-FU drug and found that after six months of exposure, parts of the central nervous system (CNS) had such extensive damage that these cells were almost non-existent in the mice. The 5-FU drug is standard care for now; however this research will provide scientists the knowledge to work towards cancer drugs that have fewer side effects.
Treatment
The Mayo Clinic reports that no medications have been proven to treat the effects of chemo brain. Medications typically used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer's and sleep problems can be prescribed to help lessen the effects of chemo brain. According to the ACS, there are ways to manage chemo brain; setting a daily routine, using a planner, getting enough rest and exercise are important steps to managing the effects of chemo brain. ACS also recommends that patients learn new skills or do puzzles to keep their brain performing at the highest levels possible. Many hospitals are able to perform scans of a patient's brain to examine the extent of the patient's symptoms. This allows doctors to prescribe the most effective mental exercises.
