Assessment of Cognition Among Breast Cancer Survivors

Project Description Narrative:

About half of all women who develop breast cancer do so at age 65 or older, the age group that is also at highest risk for cognitive dysfunction. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recommended that all early-stage postmenopausal breast cancer patients with hormone-receptor positive tumors undergo therapy with one of a class of hormonal therapy agents known as aromatase inhibitors. There are reasons to believe that these anti-estrogen agents could adversely affect cognition. This project will take advantage of the timely opportunity to evaluate this possibility by studying older breast cancer survivors who have not been exposed to aromatase inhibitors. The aim of the study will be to assess the brain functioning of women with a hormone-receptor positive tumor who received the recommended aromatase inhibitor therapy and contrast their brain functioning to that of control. The study will catalyze a novel interdisciplinary collaboration between the functional MRI research group at the Center of Patent Care and Outcomes Research and MCW and open the opportunity for future extramural grant submissions, while providing information relevant to the quality of life in older breast cancer survivors.