Sexual quality of life assessment in young women with breast cancer during adjuvant endocrine therapy and patient-reported supportive measures

Angelique Bobrie,Aurore Moussion,Veronique D’Hondt,William Jacot,Marta Jarlier

doi:10.1007/s00520-022-06810-3

Abstract

PurposeSexual quality of life (QoL) is affected during and after breast cancer (BC) treatment. The purpose was to investigate sexual and global QoL and patient-reported measures to address this issue in young women (< 51 years) with BC after the acute treatment phase, during adjuvant endocrine therapy.MethodsThree EORTC questionnaires and an additional specific questionnaire, developed for the study, were used to assess sexual and global QoL and patient-reported supportive measures in BC patients who had received their endocrine therapy for at least 24 months. Among the 54 eligible patients, 45 (83%) agreed to participate in the study.ResultsWe showed a deterioration in sexual QoL and poor communication with healthcare professionals. Most patients (88.9%) declared that it was important that sexuality should be discussed with caregivers and that the partner should also be involved. Most patients (60%) had taken at least one action to overcome their sexual problems. Most of these interventions (63%) originated from the patient herself.ConclusionsSexual QoL is a major issue in young BC patients and is poorly addressed by healthcare professionals. Most of the supportive methods used by the patients to overcome these side effects were on their own initiative. Communication and counseling on sexuality by healthcare professionals need to be improved during BC treatment. Patients suggested supportive measures they would find useful and appropriate to develop in the clinic. The final goal is to improve the sexual QoL of BC patients with the appropriate intervention and support.

Highlights

Advances in breast cancer (BC) diagnosis and treatment have led to the improvement of the patients’ prognosis, with a 5-year survival in wealthier countries reaching 90% [1]
The secondary objectives were: (1) to evaluate the global quality of life (QoL) at the same time-point using the EORTC QLQ-C30 [14] and QLQ-BR23 [15] questionnaires; (2) to evaluate the information received by patients about sexual issues; (3) to evaluate the need for specific management of sexual troubles; (4) to describe supportive measures or therapeutic interventions used by women on their own initiative using the specific Cupidon questionnaire, proposed for the study
All women were sexually active at baseline and 17% declared a previous history of sexual problems either in the couple (5%) or of their partner (12%)

Summary

Introduction

Advances in BC diagnosis and treatment have led to the improvement of the patients’ prognosis, with a 5-year survival in wealthier countries reaching 90% [1]. This study showed a deterioration of patients’ sexual QoL as compared to women in the general population and a very low communication level about sexual themes between patients and healthcare givers. In this new study, we focused on young patients less than 51 years old, a population whose sexual QoL is more frequently and severely affected following BC care [9,10,11,12,13]. We analyzed the sexual and global QoL in women with HR + BC who had received their endocrine therapy for at least 24 months, to analyze sexual dysfunction long after the acute surgical, chemotherapeutic, and radiotherapeutic treatment phases.

Methods

Results

Conclusion