Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39020328›Full record

ArticleBMC women's health2024

Toward better understanding and management of chemobrain: the potential utilities of the MemTrax memory test.

Yun Ma, Wenying Chai, Deyong Bu, Xuemin Feng, J Wesson Ashford, Limei He, Ying Zheng, Curtis B Ashford, Feng Li, Jun Li and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC women's health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Yun MaDepartment of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650032, China. mayun@ydyy.cn.
Wenying ChaiDepartment of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650032, China. chaiwenying@ydyy.cn.
Deyong BuDepartment of Geriatric General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Xuemin FengSchool of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
J Wesson AshfordDepartment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, War Related Illness & Injury Study Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Ave, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Limei HeSchool of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Ying ZhengDepartment of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Curtis B AshfordMemTrax, LLC, Redwood City, CA, USA.
Feng LiKunming Escher Technology Co. Ltd, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Jun LiDepartment of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Yuan DongDepartment of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650032, China.
Shumo LiDepartment of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650032, China.
Xianbo ZhouCenter for Alzheimer's Research, Washington Institute of Clinical Research, Vienna, VA, USA.

Funding

Yunnan Provincial Department of Education 2020J0165
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo study the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function in breast cancer patients, and to investigate the relationship of MemTrax test of memory and related functions to the FACT-Cog functional self-assessment for the evaluation and management of chemobrain.

methodsIn this prospective cohort study, clinical information of pathologically confirmed female breast cancer patients who decided to receive chemotherapy were collected in a questionnaire which was developed for this study and provided as a supplementary file. The FACT-Cog self-assessment and MemTrax test were administered before and after the chemotherapy treatments. Patients with chemobrain were identified using published criteria based on FACT-Cog scores, and MemTrax scores from chemobrain patients were analyzed.

resultsFifty-six patients participated in this study, of which 41 participants completed 4 or more cycles of chemotherapy and were included in the final analyses here. Using the reported high end of minimal clinical differences (10.6 points) of FACT-Cog before and after chemotherapy, 18 patients suffered from chemobrain in this study. In these 18 chemobrain patients, no cognitive impairments were detected by MemTrax, which paradoxically demonstrated an improvement in the normal cognitive range.

conclusionThe cognitive impairment induced by chemotherapy in breast cancer patients is detectable by the FACT-Cog in a Chinese cohort but is not detected by the MemTrax memory test. The fact that the more objective MemTrax could not detect the impairment could alleviate patients' concerns which in turn would be beneficial for patients' mental health.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsAdultAgedAntineoplastic AgentsChemotherapy-Related Cognitive ImpairmentCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMemoryMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsProspective StudiesSurveys and QuestionnairesAntineoplastic AgentsBreast cancerChemobrainMemTrax memory test

Identifiers

PMID39020328
PMCPMC11253354

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.