Event

NACS guest lecturer: Cancer-induced alterations in brain and behavior

Thursday, August 10, 2017
10:00 a.m.
1140A BPS
Erica Glasper
301 405 2877

Cancer-induced alterations in brain and behavior

Dr. Leah Pyter
Assistant Professor
Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research
Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health & Neuroscience

Abstract: Breast cancer survivors are an expanding population that is troubled by lasting mental health problems, including depression/anxiety and cognitive impairments. These issues reduce quality-of-life throughout survivorhood. Research indicates that tumor biology, cancer treatments, and stress contribute to these mood disturbances, possibly through inflammatory pathways. To date, rodent models of recurrence-free tumor survival are lacking, but would allow for the differentiation of the roles of these various causes and the underlying mechanisms by which behavioral issues persist after cancer. Our research examines the extent to which potential behavioral symptoms persist after mammary tumor removal in mice (i.e., establishment of a cancer survivor model) and seeks to identify the underlying neurobiological mechanisms. The data indicate that persistent behavioral changes into cancer survivorhood may be due, in part, to changes in immunity that remain even after successful tumor removal.

Host: Dr. Erica R. Glasper