A new study shows that over 40 percent of women who survive breast and gynecologic cancers desire medical help for post-treatment sexual issues, but few get such help. The study consisted of a survey of 261 cancer survivors and was published online in the journal, Cancer.
A woman’s sexuality is impacted both physically and psychologically after cancer treatment, senior author of the study, Stacy Tessler Lindau, MD, said. Sexual issues after gynecological and breast cancer treatments are well documented; in addition to a number of physical sexual problems, many cancer survivors struggle with body-image problems due to appearance changes because of treatment. However doctors rarely talk to women about cancer’s impact on their sexuality.
The average age of the survey participants was 55 years old. Forty-two percent said they were interested in receiving medical help for sexual problems, while on 7 percent of the patients surveyed reported having asked for such help. The results of the surveys reveal a significant, unmet need of women who survive gynecologic and breast cancers, the authors said.
“Anything that affects the female sexual organs will have repercussions on body image and on a woman’s sex life,” said lead author of the study, Emily Hill, MD.
Lindau is the director of the clinic Program in Integrative Sexual Medicine for Women and Girls with Cancer (PRISM) at the University of Chicago. The PRISM clinic was started in 2008 and is staffed with specialists in gynecology, psychology, physical therapy oncology, and nursing to comprehensively address female sexual concerns, post-cancer. It is one of the few such clinics in the nation to offer such a program. Lindau is working with other physicians in both Illinois and around the country to help build similar programs nationwide.
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