Breast cancer and cognition: The role of metamemory.

摘要

Objective: Previous research has shown a discrepancy between subjective and objective measures of cognition in chemotherapy-treated breast cancer patients. We hypothesized that this might be due to a deficit in metamemory mediated by frontal lobe dysfunction or depression.;Results: The patients performed worse than controls on the metamemory measure with a trend toward mediation by frontal executive function. There was no correlation between subjective and objective measures of cognition in the chemotherapy group, but this discrepancy was observed to the same extent in the controls.;Conclusion: The discrepancy between subjective and objective measures of cognition is "normal". However, metamemory function was not as good in the chemotherapy patients as the controls due, in part, to poorer frontal lobe function.;Methods: Objective and subjective measures of cognition, a mood questionnaire, and a metamemory test were administered to 54 breast cancer patients post chemotherapy and 54 healthy controls.