Jules Cohen, MD
As if having cancer weren’t enough, life is even tougher for patients who feel like their minds are just not working right. Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Impairment –also known as “chemobrain”–is a long-term side effect commonly experienced by women being treated for breast cancer. It robs them of their memory, makes concentration difficult, leads to fuzzy thinking, and even finding the right words to say to a friend or family member can be a battle. Although these cognitive problems frustrate and debilitate so many women and those they love, there is a discouraging lack of information on prevention and treatment.
Jules Cohen, MD research is generating the research insights into Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Impairment to revolutionize its treatment.
Dr. Cohen is studying chemobrain in women receiving chemotherapy for stages I through III breast cancer. As a Stony Brook Cancer Center physician-scientist in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Cohen says that in order to make breast cancer the largely curable disease it is today, oncologists treat it aggressively. “We don’t want to compromise the efficacy of our lifesaving treatments, but we’d like to decrease their toxicity,” he says, “so that people will not only live a long time, but live well.”
Virginia Gonnelly knows firsthand how hard it is to be stuck in a chemotherapy-induced fog. Virginia is being treated at Stony Brook for breast cancer. Memory loss makes her feel “upset and anxious. I don’t remember what I’m doing, or why I am where I am.” Though she continues to work, Virginia says she sits at her desk and struggles to focus “while my mind is going elsewhere.”
The compassionate care she finds at the Cancer Center is helping her cope. “Dr. Cohen is so nice, and everybody is absolutely wonderful,” she says. “Sometimes I think they would stay here all night answering my questions, and my husband’s questions too. It’s amazing.”
Dr. Cohen’s unique approach involves the integration of two of the most sophisticated biomedical imaging methods developed to date: the very precise localization of MRI, plus the PET scan’s molecular characterization of brain activity. With therapies resulting from Dr. Cohen’s research, chemobrain could be a thing of the past for Virginia and other chemotherapy patients. Dr. Cohen explains that his studies will first identify chemotherapy-induced changes in brain structure. Patients will undergo standard neuropsychological tests and simultaneous PET/MRI scanning, before and after chemo. Here at Stony Brook, we have the only combination PET/MRI scanner on Long Island (the Siemens Biograph mMR system.)
Subsequent research will include a randomized trial using neuroprotective drugs versus a placebo. Besides pointing the way to treatment for chemobrain, clinical trials could facilitate the development of new drugs for diseases such as stroke and dementia.
Behavior or lifestyle modifications, including exercise, yoga, and acupuncture, will also be recommended to patients taking part of the chemobrain studies.
This research will be expensive. To do a single scan on a single patient can run up to $10,000, and there are other costs as well. Dr. Cohen and his team will need support, to help patients recover from the long-term side effects of chemotherapy.
To learn more about Dr. Cohen’s work or to help support the Stony Brook Cancer Center’s research efforts, please contact Kate Kaming, Cancer Center Director of Development at 631-444-2604 or katherine.kaming@stonybrookmedicine.edu.