ROCHESTER, N.Y., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Chemotherapy can damage the brain, killing critical cells and causing parts of the brain to shrink, recent studies have shown.
The findings indicated the existence of "chemo brain," the memory loss or fuzziness and cognitive impairment often reported by cancer patients, the Los Angeles Times said Friday.
The studies suggested that between 40 percent and 80 percent of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy suffer from chemo brain. Because chemotherapy is a crucial cancer treatment, scientists called for increased research on protecting the brain from chemo's toxic effects and developing cancer drugs that are more selective.
In a study by University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center found that cancer drugs killed not only replicating cancer cells, but non replicating brain cells as well.
A second study conducted in China, researchers studying women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer found that areas of the brain involved in cognitive processes were significantly smaller.
In a third study, scientists at UCLA's School of Medicine studied brain metabolism in women who underwent chemotherapy and surgery for breast cancer. They found that the women who received chemotherapy had lower resting metabolism rates, making it more difficult for them to perform memory tests.
