As the number of older adults in the U.S. increases, so too will the incidence of cancer and cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). However, the exact underlying biological mechanism for CRCI is not yet well understood. We utilized susceptibility-weighted imaging with quantitative susceptibility mapping, a non-invasive MRI-based technique, to assess longitudinal iron deposition in subcortical gray matter structures and evaluate its association with cognitive performance in women age 60+ with breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy and age-matched women without breast cancer as controls. Brain MRI scans and neurocognitive scores from the NIH Toolbox for Cognition were obtained before chemotherapy (time point 1) and within one month after the last infusion of chemotherapy for the patients and at matched intervals for the controls (time point 2). There were 14 patients age 60+ with breast cancer (mean age 66.3 ± 5.3 years) and 13 controls (mean age 68.2 ± 6.1 years) included in this study. Brain iron increased as age increased. There were no significant between- or within- group differences in neurocognitive scores or iron deposition at time point 1 or between time points 1 and 2 (p > 0.01). However, there was a negative correlation between iron in the globus pallidus and the fluid cognition composite scores in the control group at time point 1 (r = -0.71; p < 0.01), but not in the chemotherapy group. Baseline iron in the putamen was negatively associated with changes in the oral reading recognition scores in the control group (r = 0.74, p < 0.01), but not in the chemotherapy group. Brain iron assessment did not indicate cancer or chemotherapy related short-term differences, yet some associations with cognition were observed. Studies with larger samples and longer follow-up intervals are warranted.

中文翻译：

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接受辅助化疗的老年乳腺癌患者的皮质下脑铁沉积和认知表现：一项初步 MRI 研究。

随着美国老年人数量的增加，癌症和癌症相关认知障碍 (CRCI) 的发病率也会增加。然而，CRCI 的确切潜在生物学机制尚不清楚。我们利用磁化率加权成像和定量磁化率映射（一种基于 MRI 的非侵入性技术）来评估皮质下灰质结构中的纵向铁沉积，并评估其与 60 岁以上乳腺癌接受辅助化疗和年龄的女性认知表现的关系-匹配的没有乳腺癌的女性作为对照。来自 NIH Toolbox for Cognition 的脑 MRI 扫描和神经认知评分是在化疗前（时间点 1）和患者最后一次化疗输注后一个月内以及对照组（时间点 2）以匹配的时间间隔获得的。本研究包括 14 名 60 岁以上的乳腺癌患者（平均年龄 66.3 ± 5.3 岁）和 13 名对照（平均年龄 68.2 ± 6.1 岁）。脑铁随着年龄的增长而增加。在时间点 1 或时间点 1 和 2 之间，神经认知评分或铁沉积在组间或组内没有显着差异（p > 0.01）。然而，在时间点 1，苍白球中的铁与对照组的流体认知综合评分呈负相关（r = -0.71；p < 0.01），而化疗组则没有。壳核中的基线铁与对照组口语阅读识别分数的变化呈负相关（r = 0.74，p < 0.01），但与化疗组无关。脑铁评估并未表明癌症或化疗相关的短期差异，但观察到一些与认知的关联。有必要进行更大样本和更长随访间隔的研究。