Scanning the Global Literature BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WITH PERSISTENT CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE SHOW AN ALTERED RESTING BRAIN CONNECTIVITY

BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WITH PERSISTENT CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE SHOW AN ALTERED RESTING BRAIN CONNECTIVITY According to modern neuroscience cerebral networks, cerebral connectivity is decisive for cognitive and emotional functions. A disturbed cerebral connectivity has now been shown in breast cancer survivors with persistent cancer-related fatigue. In 23 age-matched patients—15 fatigued, 8 nonfatigued; in all the successful treatment of their breast cancer had been terminated at least 12 weeks earlier— the brain activity had been investigated with functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging. Fatigued patients showed an increased connectivity between the default mode network and regions within the superior frontal gyrus. The degree of increased connectivity was correlated with increased fatigue and decreased sleep quality. Specifically, the connectivity was increased between the inferior parietal lobule to superior frontal gyrus (which was positively correlated to physical fatigue scores and poor sleep quality), between medial prefrontal to inferior parietal lobule (which was positively correlated to subjective mental fatigue scores), between precuneus to anterior insula, and posterior cingulate to cerebellum.