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Supportive Care in Cancer

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01-08-2014 | Original Article

Electroencephalogram power changes as a correlate of chemotherapy-associated fatigue and cognitive dysfunction

Authors: Halle C. F. Moore, Michael W. Parsons, Guang H. Yue, Lisa A. Rybicki, Wlodzimierz Siemionow

Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer | Issue 8/2014

Abstract

Purpose

Persistent fatigue and cognitive dysfunction are poorly understood potential long-term effects of adjuvant chemotherapy. In this pilot study, we assessed the value of electroencephalogram (EEG) power measurements as a means to evaluate physical and mental fatigue associated with chemotherapy.

Patients and methods

Women planning to undergo adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer and healthy controls underwent neurophysiologic assessments at baseline, during the time of chemotherapy treatment, and at 1 year. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the data.

Results

Compared with controls, patients reported more subjective fatigue at baseline that increased during chemotherapy and did not entirely resolve by 1 year. Performance on endurance testing was similar in patients versus controls at all time points; however, values of EEG power increased after a physical task in patients during chemotherapy but not controls. Compared with controls, subjective mental fatigue was similar for patients at baseline and 1 year but worsened during chemotherapy. Patients performed similarly to controls on formal cognitive testing at all time points, but EEG activity after the cognitive task was increased in patients only during chemotherapy.

Conclusion

EEG power measurement has the potential to provide a sensitive neurophysiologic correlate of cancer treatment-related fatigue and cognitive dysfunction.

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Title: Electroencephalogram power changes as a correlate of chemotherapy-associated fatigue and cognitive dysfunction
Authors: Halle C. F. Moore
Michael W. Parsons
Guang H. Yue
Lisa A. Rybicki
Wlodzimierz Siemionow
Publication date: 01-08-2014
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer / Issue 8/2014
Print ISSN: 0941-4355
Electronic ISSN: 1433-7339
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2197-0

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Abstract

Purpose

Patients and methods

Results

Conclusion

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