Altered gyrification in chemotherapy-treated older long-term breast cancer survivors

PURPOSE: The purpose of this prospective longitudinal study was to evaluate the changes in brain surface gyrification in older long-term breast cancer survivors 5 to 15 years after chemotherapy treatment. METHODS: Older breast cancer survivors aged ≥ 65 years treated with chemotherapy (C+) or without chemotherapy (C−) 5–15 years prior and age & sex-matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited (time point 1 (TP1)) and followed up for 2 years (time point 2 (TP2)). Study assessments for both time points included neuropsychological (NP) testing with the NIH Toolbox cognition battery and cortical gyrification analysis based on brain MRI. RESULTS: The study cohort with data for both TP1 and TP2 consisted of the following: 10 participants for the C+ group, 12 participants for the C− group, and 13 participants for the HC group. The C+ group had increased gyrification in 6 local gyrus regions including the right fusiform, paracentral, precuneus, superior, middle temporal gyri and left pars opercularis gyrus, and it had decreased gyrification in 2 local gyrus regions from TP1 to TP2 (p < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). The C− and HC groups showed decreased gyrification only (p < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). In C+ group, changes in right paracentral gyrification and crystalized composite scores were negatively correlated (R = −0.76, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Altered gyrification could be the neural correlate of cognitive changes in older chemotherapy-treated long-term breast cancer survivors.