Cognition in patients treated with targeted therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia: a controlled comparison

Abstract

This controlled comparison study evaluated objective and subjective cognitive function and their relationships with patient-reported symptoms (depression, fatigue, insomnia) in patients receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and non-cancer controls. Patients with CML in chronic phase treated with the same oral TKI for ≥6 months (n = 90) and non-cancer controls (n = 87) completed a neurocognitive battery and self-report measures. Patients demonstrated worse overall neuropsychological performance (p = .05) and verbal memory (p = .02) compared to controls. Patients were not more likely to meet criteria for impaired cognitive performance compared to controls (ps>.26). Patients reported worse subjective global and domain-specific cognitive complaints and less satisfaction with cognitive function compared to controls (ps < .05). Patients also reported greater fatigue and insomnia symptoms (ps < .001). In both groups, greater fatigue, insomnia, and depressive symptoms were associated with worse subjective cognition (ps < .01). Longitudinal studies are needed to examine changes in cognitive function in patients before and during TKI treatment.

Keywords:

• Cognition
• chronic myeloid leukemia
• fatigue
• insomnia

Acknowledgements

Preliminary findings were previously presented at the Society of Behavioral Medicine conference, April 2018.

Disclosure statement

HSLJ reports consulting for Merck and grant funding from Kite Pharma. BDG reports board membership at Elly Health and consulting for SureMed Compliance and KemPharm. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Participant Research, Interventions, and Measurement (PRISM) Core Facility at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, a National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer center.