Endocrine therapy is associated with low performance on some estrogen-sensitive cognitive tasks in postmenopausal women with breast cancer

This study investigated the effects of endocrine therapy (i.e., tamoxifen and anastrozole) on cognitive functioning by comparing 28 postmenopausal women with breast cancer to 37 healthy age-equivalent controls. Participants completed neuropsychological tests previously shown to be estrogen sensitive (e.g., verbal memory, letter fluency). A significant treatment effect was observed on speeded measures of letter fluency, complex visuomotor attention, and manual dexterity, but not on measures of verbal or object-location memory, or on tests presumed to be estrogen insensitive (e.g., spatial ability). In partial support of previous research, these results indicate that endocrine therapy can have detrimental effects on speeded higher brain functions but not necessarily on memory.