Vegetable Intake Is Associated with Better Cognitive Function in Post-menopausal Breast Cancer Survivors

Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the relationships between fruit and vegetable intake and cognitive outcomes among breast cancer survivors. Approximately 4.1 million women in the U.S. have had breast cancer (BC). Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI), including impairments to verbal fluency, executive function, memory, and more, affects about 30% of chemotherapy-treated patients and can last decades, severely impacting quality of life. Plant-based eating patterns may be a promising strategy to reduce CRCI through anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties of fruits and vegetables. This project aimed to evaluate preliminary associations of fruit and vegetable intake with cognitive function in BC survivors enrolled in an ongoing remote, cross-sectional, observational study. Thirty-seven post-menopausal females aged 45-75 years and 1-4 years post-diagnosis of stage I-III BC were enrolled at the time of analysis. Electronic food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate self-reported dietary intake. Cognitive function was measured remotely using validated objective cognitive tests [Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV Digit Span, Oral Trail Making Test, and Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT)+ Animals]. Spearman’s rank correlations quantified associations between fruits and vegetables and cognitive outcomes. Semantic verbal fluency (SVF) measured by COWAT+Animals was significantly associated with total vegetable intake (ρ=0.46, p=0.004), plus specific vegetable categories: dark green (ρ=0.36, p=0.04); tomato (ρ=0.36, p=0.03); and other, excluding starchy vegetables (ρ=0.38, p=0.02). Intake of orange vegetables approached significant association with SVF (ρ=0.28, p=0.096). Vegetable intake was directly associated with objectively measured SVF in this cohort of postmenopausal BC survivors 1-4 years post-diagnosis. Increasing vegetable intake may benefit cognition among BC patients at risk for CRCI.