Sex After Cancer

Synopsis: In 2010, Lindau was the lead author of a study that found many women who survive breast and gynecologic cancers want medical help for their sexual issues but most do not get it.   Multiple datasets show that the incidence of sexual dysfunction ranges from 30 percent to 100 percent among female cancer survivors, according to a review in The Oncologist. The authors write that multiple barriers, such as time constraints, keep providers from engaging in sexual health discussions, but “taking a sexual history of our patients becomes as important as understanding their past medical and social history.”  At the PRISM clinic, specialists in gynecology, psychiatry, physical therapy, oncology and nursing work to change this pattern. “We’ve seen some growth in programs that seek to help women recover sexual function,” Lindau says, “but we’re far from providing care in this domain that prevents unnecessary pain and suffering for women and their partners.”