Grant Number:	5R03CA241841-02 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Kobayashi, Lindsay
Organization:	University Of Michigan At Ann Arbor
Project Title:	Education and Cancer-Related Cognitive Decline During Aging
Fiscal Year:	2020

ABSTRACT Cancer-related cognitive decline (CRCD) is a highly feared and prevalent outcome for the growing population of older cancer survivors. Education is known to predict better cognitive function in older adults generally and substantially reduces dementia risk, but is largely unexplored in the general population of older cancer survivors. Almost all CRCD studies are conducted in clinical settings with highly educated study populations, and thus are often not well suited to evaluate the effects of education as a CRCD risk-modifying factor. This is a major evidence gap limiting our understanding of the burden or predictors of CRCD at the population level. The proposed research leverages the cognitive reserve theory, which postulates that cognitive reserve allows individuals to maintain cognitive function despite accumulating brain pathology and cognitive insults. Our central hypothesis is that education and related cognitive reserve markers will modify the rate of memory change associated with a new cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy receipt, which may be cognitive insults, in mid-to-later life. We will investigate whether the course of CRCD is altered in middle-aged and older cancer survivors with high cognitive reserve (measured by education, numeracy, occupational skill, social engagement), relative to those with low reserve and age-matched cancer-free adults. The specific aims are to: 1) determine the rate of memory change associated with a new cancer diagnosis, according to education and related markers of pre-cancer diagnosis cognitive reserve, and 2) determine the rate of memory change associated with chemotherapy receipt, overall and according to education and related markers of pre-cancer diagnosis cognitive reserve. We will use data from the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study and linked Medicare data from 1998-2016. Segmented linear mixed models will estimate memory change prior to and after a new cancer diagnosis and treatment across levels of cognitive reserve markers, with age-matched cancer-free adults as a comparison group. Key innovations are: 1) our use of longitudinal pre-cancer diagnosis data that have been previously unavailable in prior clinic-based studies of CRCD; 2) a large nationally-representative study population with diverse variation in education and other cognitive reserve markers that allows generalizability of results; 3) our linkage of the rich HRS data to Medicare claim data as a gold standard for information on cancer treatments; 4) our leveraging of cognitive reserve theory from the Alzheimer’s and dementia field to help understand the phenomenon of CRCD. Bridging the fields of cancer and aging epidemiology, our results will: 1) advance understanding of CRCD, a critically important outcome to cancer patients and their families, and 2) enhance understanding of the neurocognitive effects of education and mechanisms of cognitive reserve, by evaluating whether cognitive reserve applies to this non- dementia neuropathological phenomenon. This research is a first step towards achieving our long-term goal of understanding and improving cognitive aging outcomes in the growing population of older cancer survivors.




Education, incident cancer, and rate of memory decline in a national sample of US adults in mid-to-later-life.
Authors: Ospina-Romero M. , Brenowitz W.D. , Glymour M.M. , Westrick A. , Graff R.E. , Hayes-Larson E. , Mayeda E.R. , Ackley S.F. , Kobayashi L.C. .
Source: Journal Of Geriatric Oncology, 2023 Jun; 14(5), p. 101530.
EPub date: 2023-05-19 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 37210786
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The Role of Dementia Diagnostic Delay in the Inverse Cancer-Dementia Association.
Authors: Hayes-Larson E. , Shaw C. , Ackley S.F. , Zimmerman S.C. , Glymour M.M. , Graff R.E. , Witte J.S. , Kobayashi L.C. , Mayeda E.R. .
Source: The Journals Of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences And Medical Sciences, 2022-06-01 00:00:00.0; 77(6), p. 1254-1260.
PMID: 34788817
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Reply to "Noncancer comparators in cancer survivorship studies".
Authors: Kobayashi L.C. , Westrick A.C. , Doshi A. , Ellis K.R. , Jones C.R. , LaPensee E. , Mondul A.M. , Mullins M.A. , Wallner L.P. .
Source: Cancer, 2022-05-03 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2022-05-03 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 35503812
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Does a Cancer Diagnosis in Mid-to-Later Life Modify Racial Disparities in Memory Aging?
Authors: Eastman M.R. , Ospina-Romero M. , Westrick A.C. , Kler J.S. , Glymour M.M. , Abdiwahab E. , Kobayashi L.C. .
Source: Alzheimer Disease And Associated Disorders, 2022 Apr-Jun 01; 36(2), p. 140-147.
EPub date: 2022-02-04 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 35125398
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Functional aging trajectories of older cancer survivors: a latent growth analysis of the US Health and Retirement Study.
Authors: Westrick A.C. , Langa K.M. , Eastman M. , Ospina-Romero M. , Mullins M.A. , Kobayashi L.C. .
Source: Journal Of Cancer Survivorship : Research And Practice, 2022-02-26 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2022-02-26 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 35218520
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New directions in cancer and aging: State of the science and recommendations to improve the quality of evidence on the intersection of aging with cancer control.
Authors: Kobayashi L.C. , Westrick A.C. , Doshi A. , Ellis K.R. , Jones C.R. , LaPensee E. , Mondul A.M. , Mullins M.A. , Wallner L.P. .
Source: Cancer, 2022-02-23 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2022-02-23 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 35195912
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Changes in Life Expectancy and Disability-Free Life Expectancy in Successive Birth Cohorts of Older Cancer Survivors: A Longitudinal Modeling Analysis of the US Health and Retirement Study.
Authors: Payne C.F. , Kobayashi L.C. .
Source: American Journal Of Epidemiology, 2022-01-01 00:00:00.0; 191(1), p. 104-114.
PMID: 34613389
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Validation of self-reported cancer diagnoses using Medicare diagnostic claims in the U.S. Health and Retirement Study, 2000-2016.
Authors: Mullins M.A. , Kler J.S. , Eastman M.R. , Kabeto M. , Wallner L.P. , Kobayashi L.C. .
Source: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention : A Publication Of The American Association For Cancer Research, Cosponsored By The American Society Of Preventive Oncology, 2021-11-04 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2021-11-04 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 34737206
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The competing risk of death and selective survival cannot fully explain the inverse cancer-dementia association.
Authors: Hayes-Larson E. , Ackley S.F. , Zimmerman S.C. , Ospina-Romero M. , Glymour M.M. , Graff R.E. , Witte J.S. , Kobayashi L.C. , Mayeda E.R. .
Source: Alzheimer's & Dementia : The Journal Of The Alzheimer's Association, 2020 12; 16(12), p. 1696-1703.
EPub date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 32881307
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Association Between Alzheimer Disease and Cancer With Evaluation of Study Biases: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Authors: Ospina-Romero M. , Glymour M.M. , Hayes-Larson E. , Mayeda E.R. , Graff R.E. , Brenowitz W.D. , Ackley S.F. , Witte J.S. , Kobayashi L.C. .
Source: Jama Network Open, 2020-11-02 00:00:00.0; 3(11), p. e2025515.
EPub date: 2020-11-02 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 33185677
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The Association Between Cancer and Spousal Rate of Memory Decline: A Negative Control Study to Evaluate (Unmeasured) Social Confounding of the Cancer-memory Relationship.
Authors: Ospina-Romero M. , Brenowitz W.D. , Glymour M.M. , Mayeda E.R. , Graff R.E. , Witte J.S. , Ackley S.F. , Lu K.P. , Kobayashi L.C. .
Source: Alzheimer Disease And Associated Disorders, 2020-06-19 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2020-06-19 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 32568784
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Cognitive function prior to systemic therapy and subsequent well-being in older breast cancer survivors: Longitudinal findings from the Thinking and Living with Cancer Study.
Authors: Kobayashi L.C. , Cohen H.J. , Zhai W. , Zhou X. , Small B.J. , Luta G. , Hurria A. , Carroll J. , Tometich D. , McDonald B.C. , et al. .
Source: Psycho-oncology, 2020-03-10 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2020-03-10 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 32154959
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