Exploring the impact and expression of pre-treatment Cancer Related Cognitive Impairment in patients

Aideen Scriney

Aideen Scriney was awarded an IRC Enterprise Partnership Scheme in conjunction with Breakthrough 2022.  Aideen is working with Dr Lorraine Boran in DCU on the PreCog Study: Exploring the impact and expression of pre-treatment Cancer Related Cognitive impairment in patients to improve post-operative cognitive function.

Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) affects approximately 30% of patients worldwide. This occurs not only as a result of treatments such as chemotherapy but has also been reported in between 5-33% of cancer patients before treatment. CRCI can have long-term effects on patients as they return to work and daily life, affecting domains such as memory and attention. Currently it remains unclear whether CRCI is because of the cancer itself, the treatment and/or psychological factors, and disparities exist between patients’ subjective experience of CRCI, and the rates of objective CRIC measurement. As survivorship increases, there is a need to address CRCI and its long term effects on patients, in particular pre- and during treatment and to explore its relevance across less common cancer types. There is also a need to explore the subjective perception of CRCI among patients as this has the largest impact on their daily lives.

This research will focus on targeting intervention at patients before treatment or surgery to prepare patients for the stress of treatment.  In particular it will focus on the impact of exercise prehabilitation on CRCI, an area which is very much under researched.

You can hear more about Aideen’s research by playing the video below