Neurocognitive function in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing primary or adjuvant chemoradiation treatment

Cancer and cancer therapy-related neurocognitive changes negatively affect quality of life, yet few studies have examined neurocognitive changes in patients with head and neck cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate neurocognitive performance in patients with head and neck cancer at baseline before starting treatment and 3 months after treatment completion to assess treatment-associated changes in performance.

Patients with head and neck cancer who were to receive primary or adjuvant chemoradiation (N = 55) underwent neuropsychological testing before and 3 months posttreatment. Changes in neurocognitive performance were assessed using a practice effect adjusted Reliable Change Index.

At baseline, 38 % of patients exhibited global neurocognitive impairment. Posttreatment, 21.8 % demonstrated declines in neurocognitive performance in at least one domain. Declines in domain-specific performance ranged from 1.8 to 12.7 % with the greatest decline in language, specifically verb retrieval. Domain-specific improvements ranged from 0 to 7.3 %.

Patients had a high prevalence of baseline neurocognitive impairment. While neurocognitive performance posttreatment remained unchanged in the majority, almost 13 % suffered declines in language. Small percentages of patients exhibited improvements in their performance. Long-term effects and risk factors for neurocognitive decline in this population should be studied on a larger scale.