PILOT STUDY ON BREAST CANCER, CHEMOTHERAPY, AGE AND UFOV

此RO3应用程序解决了NIA （PAR-02-049）的目标，“老年人的癌症”（#7），并与“行为医学的基础研究”（#8），“情境中的认知”（#12）和“改进的措施和方法”（#24）相关。绝经后妇女的乳腺癌发病率急剧上升，并随着年龄的增长而增加。暴露调整后的碰撞风险随着年龄的增长而上升，与重要日常活动（如驾驶）高度相关的认知指标得分也随着年龄的增长而下降。化疗是乳腺癌的标准治疗方法，但在神经心理测试中表现较差。然而，化疗对与日常功能（如驾驶）最密切相关的认知测试表现的影响尚未得到研究，也未发现年龄和化疗对认知功能的相互作用。我们将进行一项创新的试点研究，以探索乳腺癌化疗是否与认知测试中的表现受损有关，而认知测试与驾驶等重要活动的表现高度相关。我们将使用UFOV作为衡量标准，这是一种视觉注意力/认知处理速度的测试，它与包括驾驶和碰撞风险在内的iadl高度相关。尽管它可能相关，但UFOV尚未用于化疗研究。这项研究将重点关注三个年龄组——< 50岁，51-69岁，70岁及以上

This RO3 application addresses the NIA (PAR-02-049) objective, "Cancer in the Elderly" (#7) and is relevant to "Basic research in Behavioral Medicine" (#8), "Cognition in Context" (#12), and "Improved Measures and Methods" (#24). The incidence of breast cancer rises dramatically for post-menopausal women and increases with age. Exposure adjusted crash risk rises with age, and scores on cognitive indicators that are highly associated with important daily activities, such as driving, also tend to decline with age. Chemotherapy is a standard treatment for breast cancer and has been associated with poorer performance on neuropsychological tests. However, effects of chemotherapy on cognitive test performance that is most closely associated with everyday functioning, such as driving, have not been examined nor have interactions between age and chemotherapy on cognitive functioning. We will conduct an innovative pilot study to explore whether chemotherapy for breast cancer is associated with impaired performance on a cognitive test that is highly related to performance of important activities, including driving. We will use as a measure the UFOV, a test of visual attention/cognitive processing speed, that correlates highly with IADLs, including driving as well as crash risk. Despite its possible relevance, the UFOV has not been used in chemotherapy studies. This study will focus on three age groups--< 50, 51-69, and 70 and above and will explore age by chemotherapy interactions. The sample will include 35-50 breast cancer survivors who have completed chemotherapy, and 35-50 age-, race-, and education-matched controls. Participants will also be tested on other cognitive tests to compare findings of this study to previous studies. Data on driving behavior, subjective neuropsychological symptoms, depression and positive protective factors will be collected to explore relationships between actual deficits, perceived deficits, protective factors, and driving behavior. Findings of chemotherapy-associated deficits may be important for the safety and independence of breast cancer survivors and may assist in designing interventions. This study will provide critical information for planning a definitive study of effects of chemotherapy and of age/chemotherapy interactions on cognitive functions.