603P Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment in breast cancer assessed by verbal fluency tasks and near-infrared spectroscopy

Background: Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is a frequent and disabling condition in breast cancer survivors, particularly affecting executive functions.Objective neurobiological correlates of CRCI remain insufficiently characterised.Near-infrared spectroscopy allows non-invasive assessment of prefrontal cortical activity during cognitive tasks.Methods: A total of 275 women diagnosed with breast cancer were included.Executive function was assessed using phonological and semantic verbal fluency tasks.Cerebral oxygenation was measured by near-infrared spectroscopy, recording bilateral regional oxygen saturation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.Associations with chemotherapy exposure, number of cycles, and time since diagnosis were analysed.Results: Patients receiving chemotherapy showed significantly poorer performance in both verbal fluency tasks (p<0.001).Lower scores were associated with longer time since diagnosis and a higher number of chemotherapy cycles.Patients receiving four or more cycles exhibited markedly reduced performance (p<0.001).Reduced prefrontal oxygenation was significantly associated with poorer cognitive performance, longer time since diagnosis, and higher chemotherapy exposure (all p<0.01).Conclusions: Chemotherapy exposure is associated with objective executive dysfunction and reduced prefrontal cortical oxygenation in breast cancer patients.These findings support a neurobiological basis for CRCI and highlight the need for objective cognitive monitoring during survivorship.Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors.