AGMR

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated a strong inverse association between cancer and risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed to further investigate this association by examining measures of cognitive performance and neuroimaging.Methods: Neuropsychological (NP) test batteries consisting of quantitative measures of memory and executive function and volumetric brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans measuring brain and white-matter hyperintensity volumes were administered to 2043 dementia-free participants (54% women) in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) Offspring cohort from 1999 to 2005. History of cancer was assessed at examination visits and through hospital records. Linear regression was used to examine the association between cancer history and NP/MRI variables.Results: There were 252 and 1791 participants with and without a previous history of cancer, respectively. Cancer survivors had an average time between diagnosis and NP/MRI exam of 9.8 years. History of any invasive cancer was associated with better executive function (Beta = 0.16, p = 0.04) but not memory function. Non-invasive cancer was not associated with any change in cognitive performance. Patients with prostate cancer had larger frontal brain volumes (Beta = 4.13, p = 0.03). Cancer history was not associated with any other MRI measure.Conclusions: We did not find any strong evidence linking cancer to cognitive or neuroimaging biomarkers that would explain a lower risk of subsequent AD, although a previous FHS study demonstrated a strong inverse association between cancer and risk of AD. Future work should examine the association between cancer and other biomarkers of AD as well as more sensitive metrics of AD-related brain aging markers.

Alzheimer’s disease; cognitive aging; cancer; MRI; neuropsychological assessment