Bangalore: A study conducted on the aftereffects of breast cancer treatment revealed that patients may face problems regarding certain mental abilities after some years of treatment. Memory problems may occur, irrespective of the fact whether they are treated with chemotherapy and radiation or radiation alone.

A study was conducted by Paul Jacobsen of the Moffitt Cancer Centre and Research Institute in Tampa, and his colleagues to compare the effects of different kinds of cancer treatment on memory power. Tests were conducted on breast cancer patients who were treated with both chemotherapy and radiation, patients treated with radiation alone and women who were not prone to cancer.

The study proved that chemotherapy could cause cognitive problems among breast cancer patients that continues for three years after the completion of the treatment. The research could not gather any proof that hormonal therapy might result in cognitive problems.

Researchers also came up with the conclusion that breast cancer survivors who had been treated with radiation, without chemotherapy, usually experienced the same problems faced by breast cancer patients treated with both chemotherapy and radiation.

"These findings suggest that the problems some breast cancer survivors have with their mental abilities are not just due to the administration of chemotherapy,’’ said Dr. Jacobsen.

"Our findings also provide a more complete picture of the impact of cancer treatment on mental abilities than studies that did not follow patients as long or look at mental abilities in breast cancer survivors who had not been treated with chemotherapy," he added.