Prostate Cancer Treatment Ups Cognitive Impairment Risk In Men

Hormone deprivation therapy - one of the major modalities of medical treatment for prostrate cancerdefine – fuels certain degree of cognitive impairment in the males undergoing the treatment, affecting their memory and concentration powers, a new study finds.

Clinically, testosterone – the principal male sex hormone - helps spur prostate cancerdefinedefine. Administering the androgen depletion therapy helps lower the levels of testosterone, thus slowing the growth of the prostate cancer cells.

The study led by Christian J. Nelson, researcher at the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City is published in the July 28 online edition of journal Cancer.

To gauge the effects of androgen depletion therapy on cognition, researchers reviewed 19 relevant studies involving animals and humans.

On analysis, between 47 percent and 69 percent of men administered ADT treatment had experienced some decline in at least one area of cognition, researchers noted.

The most affected areas were processes that were dependent on spatial ability and in high-order "executive functioning" abilities such as the ability to multi-task, researchers marked.

Conversely, in some studies, there was evidence that the hormone therapy reaped positive effects, thereby improving verbal memory functioning.

"There is a strong argument" that hormone deprivation therapy -- also known as androgen deprivation therapy or ADT -- is linked to "subtle but significant cognitive decline in men with prostate cancer," Nelson reports in the journal.

Moreover, Nelson recommended that despite certain cognitive effects, men should not seek to discontinue their therapy. "Treating the disease is much more important than these subtle cognitive effects," he said.

More importantly, ‘as men start this therapy, it is important to monitor them to see if they are having any of these effects,’ Nelson recommends.

"If you are having difficulty with memory, make sure you are writing things down more. If you are having difficulty with multi-tasking, try simple things like focusing on one thing at a time," Nelson promoted.