The relationship of APOE genotype to neuropsychological performance in long-term cancer survivors treated with standard dose chemotherapy. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this study was to compare the neuropsychological performance of long-term survivors of breast cancer and lymphoma treated with standard dose chemotherapy who carried the epsilon 4 allele of the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene to those who carry other APOE alleles. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Long-term survivors (mean=8.8+/-4.3 years post-treatment) of breast cancer (N=51, age=55.9+/-8.8) or lymphoma (N=29, age=55.8+/-11.6) who had been treated with standard-dose chemotherapy completed a standardized battery of neuropsychological and psychological tests. Survivors were also classified into two groups based on the presence (N=17) or absence (N=63) of at least one epsilon 4 allele of APOE. RESULTS: Analysis of covariance, controlling for age, gender, education, diagnosis, and WRAT-3 reading subtest (a proxy measure of baseline IQ), indicated that survivors with at least one epsilon 4 allele scored significantly lower in the visual memory (p<0.03) and the spatial ability (p<0.05) domains and tended to score lower in the psychomotor functioning (p<0.08) domain as compared to survivors who did not carry an epsilon 4 allele. No group differences were found on depression, anxiety, or fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that the epsilon 4 allele of APOE may be a potential genetic marker for increased vulnerability to chemotherapy-induced cognitive decline.

authors

  • Ahles, Tim
  • Saykin, Andrew J
  • Noll, Walter W
  • Furstenberg, Charlotte T
  • Guerin, Stephen
  • Cole, Bernard
  • Mott, Leila A

publication date

  • September 1, 2003

Research

keywords

  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
  • Apolipoproteins E
  • Breast Neoplasms
  • Cognition Disorders
  • Genetic Markers
  • Lymphoma
  • Survivors

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0042695788

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1002/pon.742

PubMed ID

  • 12923801

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 12

issue

  • 6