Metabolic Alternations in Normal Appearing Brain in Brain Tumor Patients: Potential Mechanism of Chemo-Brain

Patients that undergo chemotherapy have been shown to develop cognitive dysfunction after treatment. Previous studies have shown changes in white matter metabolism; however, few have examined grey matter metabolism. Our results show that glutamate, glutathione, creatine, N-acetylaspartate, and myoinositol were reduced in the posterior cingulate in tumor patients that underwent chemotherapy when compared to healthy controls. The effect of radiotherapy was also examined but did not show metabolic differences.