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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psycho-Oncology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1417668

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

Provisionally accepted
Peipei Yuan Peipei Yuan 1*Xu-Yun Hua Xu-Yun Hua 2
  • 1 Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • 2 Department of Orthopedics, Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    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.

    Keywords: early-stage lung cancer1, functional magnetic resonance imaging2, neuroplasticity3, emotion4, negative emotion5, amplitude of low frequency6

    Received: 15 Apr 2024; Accepted: 25 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yuan and Hua. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Peipei Yuan, Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.