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BMC Cancer
Published in: BMC Cancer 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Investigation of chemotherapy-induced brain structural alterations in breast cancer patients with generalized q-sampling MRI and graph theoretical analysis

Authors: Tsung-Yuan Li, Vincent Chin-Hung Chen, Dah-Cherng Yeh, Shu-Ling Huang, Cheng-Nan Chen, Jyh-Wen Chai, Clayton Chi-Chang Chen, Jun-Cheng Weng

Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

Breast neoplasms are the most common cancer among women in Taiwan. Cognitive deficits are common complications of breast cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy. The most frequently observed disorders involve executive function and memory impairment. With improvements in tumor intervention and the consequent increase in the number of cancer survivors, the quality of life of patients has become an important issue. We are interested in the early effects of chemotherapy on the brain structures of patients. In addition, generalized q-sampling imaging (GQI), a wide range of q-space datasets for a more accurate and sophisticated diffusion MR approach, was first used in this topic.

Methods

As diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is associated with restrictions in the resolution of crossing fibers, we attempted to use GQI, which can overcome these difficulties and is advantageous over DTI for tractography of the crossing fibers. This cross-sectional study included two groups: breast cancer survivors who had completed their chemotherapy (n = 19) and healthy controls (n = 20). All participants underwent diffusion MRI exams and neuropsychological assessments. We included four parts in our image analysis, i.e., voxel-based statistical analysis, multiple regression analysis, graph theoretical analysis and network-based statistical analysis.

Results

The results from the voxel-based statistical analysis showed significantly lower GFA and NQA values in the breast cancer group than those in the control group. We found significant positive correlations between the FACT-Cog and GQI indices. In the graph theoretical analysis, the breast cancer group demonstrated significantly longer characteristic path length. Adjuvant chemotherapy affected the integrity of white matter and resulted in poor cognitive performance, as indicated by the correlations between the neuropsychological assessment scales and the GQI indices. In addition, it was found that the characteristic path lengths in the breast cancer group increased, indicating that the brain network integration became worse.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrated alterations in structural brain networks and associated neuropsychological deficits among breast cancer survivors.
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Metadata
Title
Investigation of chemotherapy-induced brain structural alterations in breast cancer patients with generalized q-sampling MRI and graph theoretical analysis
Authors
Tsung-Yuan Li
Vincent Chin-Hung Chen
Dah-Cherng Yeh
Shu-Ling Huang
Cheng-Nan Chen
Jyh-Wen Chai
Clayton Chi-Chang Chen
Jun-Cheng Weng
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Cancer / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2407
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-018-5113-z

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