Chemotherapy-induced Cognitive and Brain Changes in Older Adults With Breast Cancer

Inclusion criteria

• Breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy- Group 1 (experimental group)
• Participants must meet the following criteria on screening examination to be eligible to participate in the behavioral +/- imaging components of study
• New diagnosis histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer
• Treatment plan to include chemotherapy
• Female subjects age ≥ 60 years.
• Life expectancy ≥ 1 year
• Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS) ≥ 80
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
• Non-treated breast cancer patient controls- Group 2 (control group)
• Participants must meet the following criteria on screening examination to be eligible to participate in the behavioral +/- imaging components of study:
• New diagnosis histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer
• Treatment plan does not include chemotherapy
• Age ≥ 60 years.
• Life expectancy ≥ 1 year
• Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS) ≥ 80
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
• Healthy control subjects- Group 3 (control group)
• Participants must meet the following criteria on screening examination to be eligible to participate in the behavioral +/- imaging components of study:
• Age ≥ 60 years.
• Life expectancy ≥ 1 year
• Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS) ≥ 80
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
• Participants with well-controlled vascular risk factors, such as treated hypertension, treated hyperlipidemia or well-controlled Type II diabetes (glucose levels \<250) may be included.
• Serum Pregnancy Testing: STAT quantitative serum hCG pregnancy testing for all women of childbearing potential. Imaging will not start until and unless the test result returns negative.

Exclusion criteria

• Participants who exhibit any of the following conditions at screening will not be eligible for admission into the study:
• Participants with clinical or radiographic evidence of metastatic CNS disease
• Subjects with MMSE scores below 24
• Active or history of major psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, major affective disorder in mid-life, or treatment with ECT (Mild depression that is well treated with stable dose of SSRI antidepressants may be allowed).
• Substance abuse within the past 2 years
• Huntington's disease, hydrocephalus or seizure disorder
• In addition to exclusion criteria above, participants who exhibit any of the following conditions at screening will not be eligible for admission into imaging portion of the study:
• Participants with contraindications to MRI (i.e., implanted metal including pacemakers, cerebral spinal fluid shunts, aneurysm clips, artificial heart valves, ear implants or metal/foreign objects in the eyes and those with a history of claustrophobia), injuries to the eyes with metal without X-ray documentation that metal was removed