Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies (k = 11).
| First author (year) | Country | Number received taxanes/total received chemotherapy | Number of controls | Cut off point assessment included in the analysis | Mean age of chemotherapy group (years) | Ethnicity and race of chemotherapy group | Mean years of education in chemotherapy group | Radiation therapy in chemotherapy group (n) | Endocrine therapy in chemotherapy group (n) | Number of postmenopausal subjects in chemotherapy group | Primary language of patients | Taxane chemotherapy regimen (n) | Study domains | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahles 2010 (45) | USA | 24/60 | 72 no chemotherapy;45 healthy controls | Baseline and 6 months | 51.7 | White = 58, Asian = 1, Other = 0 | 15.7 | 49 | 39 | 32 | English | Doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide/paclitaxel (22) Docetaxel/doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (2) | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, visual memory, verbal memory, processing of information, depression | Chemotherapy had a short-term effect on verbal ability. Age and cognitive reserve were related to decline in processing speed after exposure to chemotherapy |
| Cerulla 2019 (46) | Spain | 25/51 | N/A | Baseline and 1 year | 51.5 | 47 | 47 | 23 | Spanish | FEC and taxanes (25) | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, visual memory, verbal memory, processing of information, motor function, visuospatial ability, depression | Progressive improvement over time in measures of memory and divided attention was observed when PE was not corrected. When PE was corrected, worsening was found in measures of memory, fluency, and executive function | ||
| Donovan 2005 (47) | USA | 18/60 | 83 | Baseline and 6 months | 52.33 | White = 52 | 14.97 | 31 | 33 | English | Doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and docetaxel (6); doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel (10); and doxorubicin and docetaxel (2) | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, visual memory, verbal memory, language | Women who underwent chemotherapy did not report significantly more problems with cognitive functioning than women treated without chemotherapy | |
| Freeman 2002 (48) | USA | 9 | 8 no chemotherapy | Baseline and 6 months | 51.11 | 17.33 | English | Doxorubicin and taxane | Attention and concentration assessment, language, verbal memory, motor function, visuospatial ability, depression | Chemotherapy group was significantly below the post-treatment group on the language and immediate memory subsets. They also showed a strong trend for slowed motor coordination | ||||
| Janelsins 2018 (49) | USA | 542/580 | 334 healthy controls | Baseline and 6 months | 53.4 | White = 517, African American = 47, Other = 16 | 285 | 171 | 303 | No data | Paclitaxel n = 236; docetaxel n = 306 | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, verbal memory, processing of information, depression | CICI in patients with breast cancer affects multiple cognitive domains for at least 6 months post-chemotherapy | |
| Jansen 2011 (50) | USA | 49/71 | N/A | Baseline and 6 months | 50.8 | White = 31, Asian = 29, African American = 5, Hispanic = 4, Other = 2 | 16.05 | 42 | 23 in taxane group, 13 in non-taxane group | English | 49 | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, language, verbal memory, motor function, motor function visuospatial ability, depression | CICI appeared to be more acute than chronic side effects of therapy | |
| Lyon 2016 (51) | USA | 7175 | N/A | Baseline, 6 months | 51.52 | White = 53, African American = 22 | 59 | 53 | 43 | No data | Doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide and docetaxel n = 39; TC, docetaxel and cyclophosphamide n = 21; Docetaxel, carboplatin, and trastuzumab (herceptin) n = 11 | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, visual memory, verbal memory, motor function, depression | Most neuropsychologic scores improved over time, but memory did not improve after 2 years of chemotherapy cessation | |
| Menning 2016 (52) | The Netherlands | 24/31 | 24 no chemotherapy, 33 healthy controls | Baseline and 6 months | 49.8 | 25 | 22 | 12 | Dutch | AC+ docetaxel (21) AC + paclitaxel (3) | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, language, processing of information, verbal memory, visual memory, motor function, depression | Women with breast cancer and systemic treatment had general worse performance compared with controls. Cognitively impaired patients had a significantly lower estimated baseline intelligence, worse physical and social functioning, and more distress compared with unimpaired patients | ||
| Shilling 2005 (53) | UK | 6/50 | N/A | Baseline and 6 months | 51.1 | 11.96 | 24 | English | FEC+ docetaxel (6) | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, processing of information, verbal memory, visual memory | Women with breast cancer and systemic treatment were more likely to show cognitive decline than controls. They also showed significant increases in endocrine symptoms and fatigue post-treatment | |||
| Wefel 2010 (43) | USA | 34/42 | N/A | Baseline and 13 months after initiation of chemotherapy | 48.8 | White = 31; African American = 4, Hispanic = 7 | 13 | 22 | 13 | 21 | English | FAC paclitaxel (34) | Attention and concentration assessment, executive function, processing of information, verbal memory, depression | Systemic chemotherapy is associated with decline in cognitive function during and shortly after completion of chemotherapy (61% of patients). Delayed cognitive dysfunction occurred in 29% of patients |
| Yao 2017 (54) | Canada | 28/28 | 16 | Baseline and 9 months | 45.3 | 19 | No data | AC–paclitaxel (4), FEC–docetaxel (20), AC–docetaxel(2), TCH (1), unknown = 1 | Visual memory, language, and visuospatial ability | Women with breast cancer deteriorated in attention and inhibitory control relative to their pretreatment performance |
FAC, fluorouracil–adriamycin–cyclophosphamide; FEC, 5 fluorouracil–epirubicin–cyclophosphamide; TCH, taxotere (docetaxel) + carboplatin + herceptin; AC, adriamycin–cyclophosphamide.