Chemotherapy can have a variety of adverse consequences, including chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment and the term “chemobrain. The research aimed to gain a better understanding of patient-reported experiences with chemotherapy administration in gynecologic oncology patients. In January 2018, a tertiary academic institution began collecting patient experiences using a prospective patient-reported outcomes program. Ovarian or endometrial cancer patients who received chemotherapy were invited to participate in this cohort study through September 2019. Patients were given the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire to complete. Mixed-effects linear regression with random effects for repeated measures within patients and a fixed effect for endometrial versus ovarian cancer was used to assess the impact of CR responses on survival. Furthermore, 50 people were included in the study, and they completed a total of 152 patient-reported outcome measures. Before chemotherapy, 35 questionnaires were given out, and there were 59 during therapy and 58 at a median of 161 days after the conclusion of treatment. Researchers were able to compare the effects of six weeks of either ketamine or saline therapy on attention. According to the study, neither group experienced any difficulties with attention before chemotherapy (72%). Before chemotherapy, 24% of patients reported difficulties with memory, whereas, after chemotherapy, only 6% did. Before chemotherapy, there were significant differences in feeling tension (P=0.001), worry (P=0.001), and sadness (P=0.02) on mixed-effects linear regression, with higher levels of adverse emotional symptoms before chemotherapy administration than after. The greatest influence on a woman’s social life during chemotherapy (mean 1.08) compared to before (mean 0.85) and after chemotherapy (0.75, p=0.04). No overt memory problems were discovered in patients who received serial administration of patient-reported outcome indicators, but rates of unpleasant emotional symptoms such as sadness, tension, and anxiety decreased after treatment. More study was needed on the cognitive effects of chemotherapy in a larger group.
Source:ijgc.bmj.com/content/early/2022/02/14/ijgc-2021-003094
