Three Quarters Of People Say Cancer Affected Their Sexual Relationship

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 25 May 2009 - 2:00 PST

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Today Macmillan Cancer Support has released shocking new statistics from its survey to launch its Sex and Cancer campaign that aims to break the silence surrounding the impact cancer has on sexual relationships. The surprising and funny viral featuring sex guru, Sabina Pleasure, is a way to get people talking about this really difficult issue. It accompanies the Sex and Cancer campaign which encourages people to talk about the impact of cancer on their sexual relationships.

'I feel inadequate about my body, and scared of sex itself. I also feel that my husband is frightened of hurting me.'

'Unloved and 'sullied'. I have never had the confidence to enter another relationship.

'Either as a direct side effect of the drugs, the surgery a patient has, or because they've lost body confidence, an incredible 72% of cancer patients surveyed by Macmillan Cancer Support said cancer had affected their sexual relationship.

Stuart Danskin, senior cancer information nurse at Macmillan Cancer Support explains "Cancer can leave a lasting impact on a person long after treatment ends. People usually think of the hair loss and other side effects of cancer, but often it is how it affects a person's feelings about themselves that can be most distressing. It can leave people's confidence shattered, body image low, and make it psychologically or physically difficult to have sex at all,"v
Macmillan want to get the nation talking about sex and so many of Britain's leading agony aunts, including Denise Robertson and the Sun's 'Dear Deidre', have joined the campaign, offering advice to people affected by cancer on Macmillan's website http://www.macmillan.org.uk/sex

Macmillan also discovered that:

- A third of those who said cancer had affected their relationship in this way said they felt they couldn't talk to their partner about it

- One in seven even said they separated permanently as a result of the cancer's impact

- Half of those who are single said they were put off starting a new relationship, and

- Doctors and nurses mainly focus on the medical side of cancer treatment, so help is rarely offered. In fact two thirds said their doctor had not spoken to them about this, or offered any advice.

It's a really difficult issue for so many people - Gietta Gudge from Kettering explains how her breast cancer diagnosis in 2004 put her relationship with her husband under pressure. Gietta's body was so affected by her treatment this caused even more problems. She says:

"Trying to keep our physical relationship active was one of the worst things I had to go through during and after my cancer treatment. I had no idea that my body and emotions would be affected the way they were. If I had been spoken to about the effect my cancer and treatment would have on our sex life at the beginning I believe we would have been better equipped to cope with it all."

If your sexual relationship is affected by cancer, you can get advice and support from Macmillan. Go to www.macmillan.org.uk/sex or call 0808 800 1234 to speak to a nurse.

Notes

1. Macmillan surveyed 330 people affected by cancer during March 2009. All statistics and anonymous quotes are taken from this survey.

2. Some of Britain's leading agony aunts are offering their support to this campaign. They are The Sun's Deidre Sanders; Denise Robertson; Zelda West-Meads; Dr Christian Jessen; Gill Cox and Susan Quilliam.

3. There are four main ways that cancer or its treatment can affect sexuality. It can affect:

- physical ability to give and receive sexual pleasure
- thoughts and feeling about your body (body image)
- feelings, such as fear, sadness, anger and joy
- roles and relationships.

For certain tumour-sites, the cancer itself and treatment (e.g. surgery or radiotherapy) can have a physical impact on sexual function. For example, with vulval cancer, some women find that, at first, intercourse is not physically possible because of the way the wound has healed, and in treating prostate cancer, up to 90 per cent of men who have a radical prostatectomy will have difficulty getting or keeping an erection after the surgery.

However, the effect of cancer and treatment on sexual relationships also goes wider than just in cases where the tumour affects sexual organs. Chemotherapy, which is used in the treatment of many different cancers, can cause side-effects such as nausea, weakness, depression, tiredness and lack of energy, affecting the sex drive and impacting on sexual relationships.

The emotional effects of cancer and treatment on people can also have a huge effect on their sexual relationships.

Source
Macmillan Cancer Support