化療可引起乳腺癌患者腦損傷

Chemotherapy could cause brain damage in breast cancer patients scientists have warned.

A groundbreaking study discovered that breast cancer patients who had undergone the treatment - which uses medicine to kill cancerous cells - had significantly less activity in parts of the brain responsible for memory and planning compared to those who were not treated.

Researchers from Stanford University believe the findings could explain the phenomenon “chemo brain” - a term used to describe foggy thinking and memory lapses following chemotherapy sessions.

The study involved 25 breast cancer patients who had been treated with chemotherapy, 19 breast cancer patients who had surgery and other treatments, and 18 healthy women.

All were asked to perform a card-sorting task, involving problem-solving skills while their brain activity was monitored through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Each participant was also asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their own cognitive abilities.

The 25 patients who had been treated with chemotherapy, made more errors on the task and the scans revealed reduced activity in parts of the brain responsible for working memory, cognitive control, monitoring and planning.

Lead author Shelli Kesler said: “This shows that when a patient reports she's struggling with these types of problems, there's a good chance there has been a brain change.”

The study, published in the Archives of Neurology supports previous findings, and cancer patients have long complained of neurological side effects such as short-term memory loss and, in extreme cases, vision loss, and even dementia following chemotherapy.據英國《每日郵報》11月15日報道，科學家們警告，化療可能會引起乳腺癌患者大腦損傷。

一項突破性的研究發現，和未曾使用藥物治療的乳腺癌患者相比，那些使用過此療法的癌患大腦中記憶和規劃的腦部活動水平明顯降低。

來自美國斯坦福大學的研究人員認爲這一發現能夠解釋“化療腦”現象。“化療腦”是指病人在接受化療之後出現的思維不清和記憶衰退症狀。

該研究的參與對象包括25名曾接受過化療的乳腺癌患者、19名接受過外科手術或其他療法的乳腺癌患者，以及18名健康女性。

所有的參與者被要求完成一項涉及到問題解決技能的卡片分類任務，在完成任務的同時，研究人員通過磁共振成象來監測他們的大腦活動。

每位參與者還被要求完成一份評估自我認知能力的調查問卷。

研究結果顯示出曾經有過化療史的那25位癌患在完成任務時的出錯更頻繁。掃描結果也顯示出他們大腦中負責工作記憶、認知控制、檢查以及規劃的腦部活動水平降低。

研究論文的主要作者雪莉-凱斯勒說：“該研究結果顯示，當病人報告說正掙扎在這些類型的問題時，她的大腦很有可能已經出現了變化。”

發表在《神經學文獻上》的這一研究，支持了先前的研究發現。化療會對癌患的神經系統造成一些副作用，如短暫失憶，極個別情況下會出現視力下降，甚至癡呆。