Cognitive change in breast cancer patients up to two years after diagnosis

Analysis in the French nationwide CANTO cohort assessed cognitive functioning change after treatment in patients with newly diagnosed invasive stage I-III breast cancer, compared with a control group of healthy women matched for age and education. After adjustment, patients had lower baseline (before treatment) working memory, processing speed, and attention scores than controls (p≤0.001) and the difference remained significant over two years follow-up for working memory and processing speed. Executive function scores were similar between groups at baseline, but decreased at year 1 among patients compared to controls (p for change <0.001). After adjustment, self-reported cognitive difficulties were similar between the groups at baseline but increased after treatment in patients at year 1 (p for change =0.002). The authors conclude that cognitivie difficulties are an importang concern in breast cancer patients, starting a diagnosis.