Chemo Brain May Be Linked to APOE Gene

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edited October 2018 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

Chemo Brain in Older Women May Be Linked to Specific Version of APOE Gene
October 11, 2018
Older women treated with chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy had poorer cognitive skills compared to similar women who hadn't been diagnosed with breast cancer; women with the APOEe4 gene had the poorest post-treatment cognitive skills. Read more...

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  • Murfy
    Murfy Member Posts: 342
    edited October 2018

    Before this paper, studies indicated that a history of familial Alzheimer's (AD) increased risk of chemo brain. As APOE4 is a primary risk factor for AD this paper makes sense. As a carrier of APOE4, and because APOE4 appears to cause a leaky blood-brain-barrier, I was very resistant to chemo, fearing more chemo getting into brain and causing chemo brain. But, my Oncotype score of 52 mandated chemo. Although there may be long-term effects, I'm so far so good symptom-wise. Other than having no (zero!) sense of smell and taste after chemo, I still feel mentally acute... as long as I get a good night's sleep!

    Thanks for sharing this paper.

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