“Chemobrain” is commonly reported by patients treated for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), potentially attributable to chemotherapy or iron overload. We aimed to determine whether “chemobrain” could be objectively detected in AML patients.

We performed a prospective, observational, longitudinal cohort study in adults commencing chemotherapy for AML, powered to capture a potential 25% incidence of “chemobrain.” Participants underwent neurocognitive assessment (NCA) and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including iron quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), as a biomarker of neuro-inflammation, at three timepoints: pre-treatment (T1), end of treatment (T2), and 6 months later (T3). Longitudinal changes of minimum 1.64 SD were considered significant. The primary outcome was change in NCA score between T1-T2, with secondary correlation analyses between NCA, MRI, QSM and clinical data. This study was funded by a RBWH Foundation 2018 Diamond Care Grant.

Between January 2019 and June 2021, 20 patients were enrolled; of these, 15 and 10 remained alive/enrolled for evaluation at T2 and T3 respectively. Overall NCA scores for the cohort between T1-T2 were similar; however, four (27%) participants performed significantly worse (-1.64SD) in Language or Verbal Memory, with three returning to baseline at T3. Objective NCA score did not correlate with subjective symptoms, and quality of life and physical fatigue improved T1-T2. Cohort brain volumes were similar T1-T2; however, correlation analysis identified interesting potential associations between worse Language performance and volume loss in grey matter (GM; p=0.021) and Wernicke's area (p=0.02), and suggested increased iron susceptibility in frontal lobe (p=0.041) and possibly cortical GM (p=0.055).

Despite patient-reported symptoms, objective neurological toxicity appears uncommon in AML patients, and those with measurable impairment appear to subsequently return to baseline.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

This content is only available as a PDF.
2023
Sign in via your Institution