Project
Impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on cognitive functioning and recovery of brain changes after chemotherapy
The survival rate of cancer patients has increased significantly because of earlier diagnosis and improved cancer treatments. As a result, the quality of life after cancer treatment is receiving more and more attention in recent years. In particular the prevalence of cognitive complaints in cancer patients has become an important area of research. Cognitive changes associated with treatments for central nervous system (CNS) malignancies have long been recognized. However, increasing evidence has suggested that treatments for non-CNS tumours can also have both acute and long-term effects on cognitive functioning. Women treated for breast cancer for example, regularly report problems with cognitive processes involving memory, attention and executive functioning. These subtle cognitive deficits can be a worrying side effect of cancer and its treatment and can have a serious impact on quality of life and productivity at work, bringing undesirable direct and indirect costs to patients and society. Many investigators cite the incidence of post-treatment cognitive problems as ranging from 18% to 78%. The course and duration of treatment-related dysfunction however is largely unknown. Frequencies are higher shortly following the completion of treatment. While a group of women shows (partial) recovery at 1-year post-chemotherapy, others still experience cognitive dysfunction 10 to 20 years after treatment.
In this project we want to investigate the impact of Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) on cognitive functioning and recovery of changes in the brain after chemotherapy. MBI could influence and improve cognitive functioning through several pathways:
- by alleviating symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress
- by reducing cancer-related chronic fatigue
- by inducing recovery of chemotherapy-induced changes in the brain. Studies in healthy volunteers already demonstrated both changes in brain function and structure after MBI,and more specific on white matter regeneration
- MBI can have a positive impact on immune system dynamics.
As MBI could have an impact on cognitive functioning through these four different pathways, we hypothesize a positive impact on the recovery of cognitive impairment after chemotherapy. In this project we will include patients reporting cognitive problems after cancer treatment and assess neuroimaging markers and cognitive outcomes as well as inflammatory biomarkers before and after an MBI intervention and 3 months later.