In a new pilot study, researchers found breast cancer patients who experienced cognitive impairment after chemotherapy had lower levels of gray matter in brain regions connected to memory and language.
If you or a loved one has gone through cancer treatment, you've probably heard of something called “chemo brain.”
It affects about one in three breast cancer patients after chemotherapy. Trouble focusing, memory lapses, or just feeling mentally “foggy” — the symptoms are very real, and they can linger.
“We've been using chemotherapy for decades now, but we're only just starting to understand the longer-term morbidities that patients may face,” says Laura Kenny, MD, PhD.
A pilot study launched by Drs. Laura Kenny and Paul Edison of Imperial College London suggests chemotherapy-induced inflammation may cause changes in brain structure that contribute to cognitive impairment.
The study included 270 breast cancer patients who recently underwent chemotherapy.
A series of MRI brain scans revealed participants with chemo brain symptoms had lower levels of gray matter in regions linked to memory, language, and decision-making.
“From the point of view of the MRI volume in the patients who have deteriorated, we are able to show that there was a small reduction in the MRI volume in these patients. So, this implies that there is some amount of changes that are happening in these patients, which may be related to some damage to the brain,” says Paul Edison, MD, PhD.
In neurocognitive testing, patients with chemo brain also had lower overall cognitive scores and significantly poorer verbal and semantic fluency.
Some of these same brain regions are also impacted in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
“I don’t want to say that this is the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease or anything like that. What we don’t know is how these changes would eventually, will develop.”
Edison says larger studies with longer follow-up are needed and he doesn’t want patients to be alarmed.
“The most important thing is understanding what happens in the brain. And more importantly, what are the things which we can do to prevent will be the key strategy moving forward.”
Source: Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2025
Author Affiliations: Imperial College London
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