• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Saturday, September 23, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

New study reveals effective treatment program for breast cancer survivors

by MSR News Online
March 25, 2015
56
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn
PDPics/CC0 Public Domain
PDPics/CC0 Public Domain

In a new study that could help improve the day-to-day quality-of-life for women with breast cancer, UCLA researchers have developed a cognitive rehabilitation program to address post-cancer treatment cognitive changes, sometimes known as “chemo brain,” which can affect up to 35 percent of post-treatment breast cancer patients.

An estimated 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime, and post-treatment, the mental “fogginess” of “chemo brain” can prevent them from staying organized and completing everyday activities, such as sticking to a schedule, planning a family gathering or forgetting where they left the car keys.

This new study, led by breast cancer research pioneer and UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center member Dr. Patricia Ganz, builds upon her earlier research that found a statistically significant association between neuropsychological test performance and memory complaints in post-treatment, early stage breast cancer patients.

“We invited the women to participate in a research study that assigned them to early or delayed treatment with a five-week, two-hour group training session, where a psychologist taught them strategies to help them with their memory and maintaining their ability to pay attention to things,” said Ganz, director of prevention and control research at the Cancer Center. “These are activities we call executive function and planning, or the things all of us do in order to organize our day.”

The intervention program also included homework and practice activities that they would discuss at the weekly sessions. The goals of these exercises were to improve memory and cognitive function.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Dr. Linda Ercoli, an associate clinical professor of health sciences at the UCLA Semel Institute, was responsible for the development of the cognitive rehabilitation intervention program and either delivered or supervised other clinicians who provided the group training sessions.

“We gave women exercises on, for example, how to remember a ‘To-Do’ list, remembering to buy items at the store, or planning a party and deciding what type of food should be served to guests,” said Ercoli, also a co-author of the study. Participants were given real-life tasks to complete that would use these types of strategies to improve cognitive function.”

All of the women who participated in the research study, whether they received the intervention early or at a delayed time point, completed questions about their mood and mental functioning and had detailed neurocognitive testing before learning which group they would be in, immediately at the end of the training course and then again two months later. Most of the women also had resting EEG (brain wave) testing to see if this would measure changes in how the women fared throughout the study.

Ganz and Ercoli found that the early intervention group (32 women) reported improvement in memory complaints and test functioning, while the delayed intervention control group (16 women), did not improve in either their cognitive complaints or test performance. The intervention group participants showed continued improvement two months after completion of the rehabilitation program.

“The brain wave pattern in the intervention group actually normalized,” said Ganz. “We hope that this might be an effective biologic way to assess the cognitive effects of cancer treatment in the future.”

- ADVERTISEMENT -

• Breast cancer survivors with cognitive complaints participated in five-week training program to help with memory and concentration and were compared to survivors who received delayed treatment at end of study

• The early intervention group (32 women) had significant improvement in cognitive complaints and improved performance on standard memory tests compared to the delayed treatment group (16 women)

• EEG brain wave patterns improved in the early intervention group, suggested that abnormal brain changes can be reversed with cognitive rehabilitation

The next steps will allow other researchers to review and test this cognitive rehabilitation program in larger groups of patients, and to potentially develop strategies to provide intervention much earlier in the course of breast cancer treatment to either prevent difficulties or hasten recovery.

This study, which found agreement between improvements in patient-reported cognitive complaints and neurocognitive test performance added to the growing body of literature demonstrating the validity of patient complaints. Furthermore, the intervention results provided important encouragement that these complaints can improve with appropriate training.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The study was funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Foundation.

The randomized clinical trial results are now available online in the journal Psycho-Oncology.

Thanks to NNPA.org from Our Weekly for sharing this story with us.

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

VIDEO: City leaders pushing for more accessible cabs

Next Post

Lesli gone, Keith makes new plans

MSR News Online

Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.

You Might Also Like

60th anniversary of Birmingham church bombing unites families of victims and perpetrators
Opinion

Four Little Girls

Blue Line extension planning moves forward after two key votes
Local

Blue Line extension planning moves forward after two key votes

Compton's Finest
Arts & Culture

Fall into new jazz releases

Black Business Spotlight: Thoroughbred Moving and Installation
Black Business Spotlight

Black Business Spotlight: Thoroughbred Moving and Installation

Comcast donates free WiFi access to four Twin Cities nonprofits to increase digital opportunities in the region
Local

Comcast donates free WiFi access to four Twin Cities nonprofits to increase digital opportunities in the region

Two new early vote centers open in Minneapolis
Local

Early voting begins Sept. 22 for local elections

Next Post
Helen plans a big splash

Lesli gone, Keith makes new plans

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Sep 12
September 12 @ 6:30 pm-December 18 @ 9:30 pm Recurring

Vic Volare Presents MUSIC FOR MARTINIS ft: Vic’s Fabulous Nightclub Academy

Sep 22
September 22 @ 5:00 pm-September 23 @ 8:30 pm

9th Annual Lantern Lighting Celebration at Lakewood Cemetery

Sep 23
10:00 am-1:00 pm

Expanding Diversity Career Fair

Sep 23
7:30 pm-9:00 pm Recurring

Michhil Amra | We Are The Procession

View Calendar
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: