Cancer patient

receiving treatment

Photo by Rhoda Baer

A new study suggests cancer survivors and the general population have comparable sex lives, although cancer survivors don’t realize it.

According to a survey of more than 6500 people, cancer survivors over the age of 49 have just as much sex and similar levels of sexual function as individuals of the same age who never had cancer.

However, the cancer survivors were more likely to report being dissatisfied with their sex lives.

“We hope our findings will put cancer survivors’ concerns to rest—showing that they are just as sexually active and function just as well as others their age,” said Sarah Jackson, PhD, of University College London in the UK.

“The next stage of our research will look at why cancer patients feel less satisfied with their sex lives.”

Dr Jackson and her colleagues reported their current findings in Cancer.

The researchers set out to explore differences in sexual activity and function, as well as concerns about sex, between cancer survivors and cancer-free controls in a population-based study.

The team surveyed 3708 women (341 cancer survivors and 3367 controls) and 2982 men (220 cancer survivors and 2762 controls) aged 50 and older. Male and female cancer survivors were significantly older than controls (P<0.001 for both) and reported more comorbidities (P=0.003 for both).

Frequency

There were no significant differences in levels of sexual activity between cancer survivors and controls of either sex.

Among women, 58.2% of cancer survivors and 55.5% of controls reported having any sexual activity in the last year. Among men, the rates were 76.0% and 78.5%, respectively.

Overall, about half of the people surveyed reported having “frequent” sexual intercourse, which was defined as 2 to 3 times a month or more.

This included 49.1% of female cancer survivors, 50.1% of female controls, 49% of male cancer survivors, and 48% of male controls.

Function

The incidence of sexual problems was similar in cancer survivors and controls—both male and female.

For example, around a third of the women said they had problems becoming aroused (31.4% of cancer survivors and 31.8% of controls), and about 40% of the men had erectile dysfunction (40.3% of cancer survivors and 39.3% of controls).

Satisfaction

Despite similar levels of sexual activity and function, cancer survivors were more likely than controls to report feeling dissatisfied with their sex lives.

Among the women, 18.2% of cancer survivors and 11.8% of controls reported dissatisfaction (P=0.034). Among the men, the rates were 30.9% and 19.8%, respectively (P=0.023).

In addition, female cancer survivors were more likely to be concerned about their libido than female controls—10.2% and 7.1%, respectively (P=0.006). But there was no significant difference for the men.

Time from cancer diagnosis

The researchers also found the amount of time from cancer diagnosis was a factor affecting sexual function and concern among women but not men.

Females diagnosed with cancer less than 5 years from the time they were surveyed were more likely than female controls to report difficulty becoming aroused (55.4% and 31.8%, respectively, P=0.016) and achieving orgasm (60.6% and 28.3%, respectively, P<0.001).

The recently diagnosed females were also more likely than controls to be concerned about sexual desire (14.8% and 7.1%, respectively, P=0.007) and orgasmic experience (17.6% and 7.1%, respectively, P=0.042).

“Although some cancer treatments are known to impact on sexual function, this study suggests that the majority of cancer patients have similar sexual function and activity as the general population,” said Martin Ledwick, of Cancer Research UK, which sponsored this study.

“However, cancer patients in the study were more likely to be dissatisfied with their sex lives . . . . This highlights the need for health professionals to make sure they talk about sex with all patients—not just the ones whose sexual function is likely to be affected by their cancer or its treatment.”

Cancer survivors have ‘normal’ sex lives, survey says