K. Singh (Lucknow, India)
KGMU - King George's Medical UniversityAuthor Of 1 Presentation
146P - Impact of Breast Cancer Treatment on Sexual Health in Pre-Menopausal Women
Abstract
Background
With increasing awareness and provision of better treatment modalities, younger women with breast cancer have increased survival. However, due to long term treatment related side effects, they experience an overall decline in sexual health. The study aimed to analyze the incidence of sexual dysfunction in breast cancer survivors and the impact of various treatment modalities on female sexuality.
Methods
All non-metastatic pre-menopausal women diagnosed with breast cancer or undergoing therapy for breast cancer were enrolled in the study between January to December 2020; and were assessed by Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire (FSFI) before starting therapy, immediately (4 weeks) after completion of therapy and at 3 months follow up. Comparison of FSFI scores between patients who underwent mastectomy versus breast conservation surgery (BCS) and patients on hormonal therapy versus non-hormonal therapy on follow up was done.
Results
A total of 150 patients were included in the study. Seventy percent patients underwent mastectomy (n=104) and the rest underwent BCS (n=46). Based on the cut off of 26.55, 82.6% (124) patients had persisting sexual dysfunction at 3 months post treatment. The median scores of BCS group was significantly better than mastectomy group at 3 months (22.85 +/- 2.19 versus 21.75 +/- 2.09, p= 0.002). When individual domains were compared between the two groups at 3 months, arousal, lubrication, orgasm and pain showed more reduction in patients undergoing MRM as compared to BCS, however the differences were not statistically significant. Median FSFI scores were comparable in patients receiving hormonal therapy, versus non- hormonal therapy group (22.3 +/- 2.15 versus 21.9 +/- 2.23, p=0.718). When individual domain were compared desire, arousal and pain showed more reduction in hormonal group as compared to non-hormonal group, however the differences were not statistically significant.
Conclusions
Overall, high incidence of sexual dysfunction was seen in breast cancer survivors, which was significantly more in patients who underwent mastectomy. Further studies are needed to address sexual dysfunction in breast cancer survivors and measures to alleviate the same.
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.