Progress of memory function after radiation therapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

The authors evaluated the late neurocognitive profile and progress of memory functions in 60 patients with primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma who had been treated with radiation therapy for more than 2 years. Forty had imaging evidence of temporal lobe injury (TLI-positive), and 20 did not (TLI-negative). The patients and 19 healthy control subjects, matched with the patients for age and educational level, underwent extensive memory assessments. Seventeen patients (10 TLI-positive, 7 TLI-negative) were reassessed after an average of 28 months for progress of memory functions. The patient groups performed significantly worse on most memory tests compared with the normal subjects. Patients with memory complaints had lower scores for verbal memory than those without such complaints. The TLI-positive and TLI-negative groups did not differ significantly from each other in cognitive performance. At follow-up, visual memory performance had deteriorated, while verbal memory remained more stable.