Sex dysfunction in treated breast cancer

INTRODUCTION: Although cancer treatment commonly has a negative impact on sexual functioning, sexual concerns are still largely undertreated in routine cancer care. The medical model that guides current approaches to sexual care in cancer does not adequately address key patient needs. METHODS: In this paper, we describe a broader approach to understanding and treating sexual concerns in cancer that focuses on the construct of flexibility in behavioral and cognitive coping strategies...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors related to sexual dysfunction among breast cancer patients so as to improve the prevention and treatment of the disorder as well as the life quality of the patients. METHODS: Sixty-five breast cancer patients during the rehabilitation period were interviewed by questionnaire on the sexual function before and after treatment. RESULTS: Age and perception of sex were two important factors for the significant difference in the rate of sexual dysfunction among the patients...

To examine the relationship between cancer and development of thrombotic microangiopathy (TM), the medical records of patients with known TM were examined in one institution from January 1981 to December 2002. Nine out of 93 patients with the established diagnosis of TM had active cancer. All nine of those patients had thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Among those patients, two patients received chemotherapy prior to the development of TTP. Six of the seven patients who received no chemotherapy had extensive bone marrow metastasis and secondary myelofibrosis...

BACKGROUND: Previous reports suggest that problems in sexual functioning may be common among long-term (> 5 years) breast cancer survivors. To investigate this issue further, we examined the characteristics and correlates of sexual functioning in women diagnosed with breast cancer at least 5 years previously and treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and in an age-matched comparison group of women with no history of cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Participants were 58 women initially diagnosed with breast cancer at an average of 7...

A 48-year-old woman with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES), but no evidence of multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN)-1 syndrome, developed an unusually florid evolution of enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cell hyperplasia, which led to extensive replacement of oxyntic glands by endocrine tissue and resulted in the disappearance of the patient's gastric acid hypersecretion with antisecretory treatment no longer required. The patient's previous history included breast cancer, treated with surgery and 5 years of antiestrogen therapy, and bilateral granulosathecal cell tumor of the ovary...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To provide a systematic review in relation to evidence-based practice for the management of sexual dysfunction in adults with cancer and to define the current state of knowledge about intervention for this symptom, the gaps and barriers in the current state of knowledge, and recommendations for public education and future research direction. DATA SOURCES: Articles published from 1980-2000, books, and practice standards. DATA SYNTHESIS: Few tested interventions are available to treat sexual dysfunction in patients with cancer...

The trauma of being diagnosed and treated for breast cancer can impact greatly on womens' psychosexual functioning and intimate relationships. Survivors of breast cancer report that issues of body image, sexuality and partner communication rarely are addressed by traditional health care providers (Ganz, Rowland, Desmond, Meyerowitz, & Wyatt, 1998). Psychotherapy can help women cope with difficult changes in body image and sexual functioning, and there is evidence that psychotherapy may prolong life (Speigel, Bloom, Kraemer, & Gottheil, 1989)...

PURPOSE: To define the incidence of sexual dysfunction in a population of women with breast cancer treated with tamoxifen. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Breast cancer patients with a performance status of 0 to 2 who had been treated with tamoxifen for 2 to 24 months completed the following measures: the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, the Sexual History Form, and the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial Symptom Checklist. Forty-nine of the participants underwent gynecologic examinations with vaginal smears for determination of estrogen effect...

BACKGROUND: This study examined the impact of breast cancer therapy on women's sexuality. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A questionnaire concerning various sexual problems experienced before and after treatment was anonymously completed by 50 women in the outpatient clinic of our hospital's Division of Radiation Oncology. To be eligible, subjects had to be disease-free and sexually active. They also had to have undergone surgery at least one year previously and have completed CT and or RT...

We reviewed all medical records concerning patients suffering from spinal cord or cauda equina compression (SCC) secondary to cancer, in the eastern part of Denmark, from 1979 through 1985. During the period the incidence of SCC in cancer patients went up from 4.4% to 6%. However, this increase was not significant. The series comprised 398 cases, with carcinoma of the prostate (19%), lung (18%), breast (14%) and kidney (10%) accounting for 61%. The symptoms were evaluated in accordance with the patients rating of pain, motor deficits, sphincter control and paraesthesia, whereas the clinical manifestations were classified on the basis of motor deficit and bladder dysfunction...