Partner abandonment of women with breast cancer. Myth or reality?

The purpose of this article is to determine the existing evidence related to marital breakdown after a breast cancer diagnosis by reviewing studies that highlight two current belief models: the lay belief model and the clinical belief model.

The small number of studies conducted on this topic since 1988 revealed no data to confirm the lay belief model, which proposes that women with breast cancer are abandoned by their partners. The evidence appears to support the clinical belief model that the majority of marital relationships remain stable after breast cancer and that breakdown is most likely in those relationships with pre-existing difficulties.

This review indicates that it may be important for clinicians to routinely ask about the quality of the marital relationship as part of the initial assessment, because it appears that this may be a main predictor of post-diagnosis marital adjustment. In addition, greater dissemination of the findings of this review through the media and through cancer organizations is needed to more accurately reflect the experience of couples facing breast cancer and, thus, to begin to change the public perception of partner desertion after breast cancer. This could help both women with breast cancer and women from the general population who may one day confront a breast cancer diagnosis.