Cognitive Symptoms Across Diverse Cancers

Psychosocial health services for adults with cancer should include support for cognitive symptoms and symptom clusters.

To characterize the frequency and severity of cognitive symptoms and to identify demographic and clinical risk factors associated with moderate to severe cognitive symptoms among outpatient adults with cancer seeking psychosocial support.

This cross-sectional study analyzed data from routine patient-reported symptom screening during clinic appointments at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada, between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2019. Participants were outpatient adults (aged ≥18 years) with diverse cancer diagnoses who endorsed interest in receiving psychosocial support from a health care team member. Data analysis was performed from April 2020 to June 2024.

The presence and severity of cognitive symptoms as self-rated by participants were characterized across 12 cancer types: brain or central nervous system (CNS), breast, gastrointestinal, head and neck, gynecological, thyroid, lung and bronchus, sarcoma, genitourinary, melanoma, hematological, and all other cancers. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore the associations between demographic, clinical, and symptom factors and moderate to severe cognitive symptoms.

Across the sample of 5078 respondents (2820 females [55.5%]; mean [SD] age at time of survey, 56.0 [14.1] years) requesting psychosocial support, 3480 (68.5%) reported cognitive symptoms of any severity, ranging from 59.5% in sarcoma to 86.5% in brain or CNS cancer. Moderate to severe cognitive symptoms were reported by 1544 patients (30.4%), with the proportions being 51.3% for patients with brain or CNS, 37.0% for breast, 36.2% for thyroid, 30.9% for melanoma, 29.6% for head and neck, 28.3% for gastrointestinal, 28.2% for hematological, 28.1% for gynecological, 24.9% for lung and bronchus, 24.9% for sarcoma, 21.0% for genitourinary, and 26.8% for all other cancers. Across the entire sample, moderate to severe cognitive symptoms were associated with recurrence or progression involving the CNS (odds ratio [OR], 2.62; 95% CI, 1.80-3.81), depression (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.59-2.31), tiredness (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.52-2.19), drowsiness (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.39-1.93), anxiety (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.30-1.89), shortness of breath (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.16-1.61), female sex (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.14-1.56), first-line chemotherapy received (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.05-1.41), and metastatic disease at diagnosis (OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.61-0.89). Within individual cancer types, tiredness and depression were consistently associated with moderate to severe cognitive symptoms.

This cross-sectional study found that cognitive symptoms were frequently reported by patients across a wide range of cancer types; higher severity of cognitive symptoms was consistently associated with higher symptom burden. The findings could be used to inform decision-making regarding access to cognitive screening, assessment, and supportive care in outpatient oncology clinics.