AUTHOR=Yuan Pei-Pei , Hua Xu-Yun 

TITLE=Preoperative early-stage lung cancer patients and local brain area changes: a cross-sectional observational descriptive study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1417668

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1417668

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Introduction: Lung cancer is a major global health concern. Patients experience a substantial process of emotional transformation following lung cancer diagnosis, in which subtle changes in brain function and/or structure may occur. As such, the present study aimed to investigate the neuroplastic changes induced by negative emotions in patients with early stage lung cancer. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 35 patients with early-stage lung cancer and 33 ageand sex-matched healthy controls. All participants completed the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were used as the fMRI indices. Correlations between the clinical assessments and ALFF and ReHo values were calculated. Results: Our analysis revealed no significant differences in HAMD and HAMA scores between patients and control subjects (p > 0.05), although significant alterations in ALFF and ReHo were observed in multiple brain regions in patients with early-stage lung cancer compared to healthy controls (PFalse Discovery Rate < 0.05). Specifically, ALFF values were decreased in the right postcentral gyrus, calcarine, and left middle cingulate, while ReHo values increased in the right angular gyrus and decreased in the bilateral postcentral gyrus, insula, left calcarine, putamen, superior temporal gyrus, middle cingulate, and right Rolandic gyrus. The HAMD score was significantly correlated with the ALFF value in the right postcentral gyrus (P =0.007). Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into the adaptive responses of the brain following the early diagnosis of lung cancer, revealing potential disturbances in negative emotional processing. Harnessing neuroplasticity may open new avenues for the establishment of personalized treatment strategies and targeted interventions to support the emotional and mental health of patients with lung cancer.