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Published on: August 13, 2019
Sexual dysfunction in women on adjuvant endocrine therapy after breast cancer
Juliane Baumgart1, Kerstin Nilsson, Anneli Stavreus Evers
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden. juliane.baumgart@orebroll.se
Objective:
The goal of this study was to investigate sexual function in postmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitors.
Methods:
A population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among postmenopausal breast cancer patients on adjuvant endocrine treatment and age-matched controls with and without estrogen treatment. Sexual function was assessed with a standardized questionnaire.
Results:
In all, 42.4% of aromatase inhibitor-treated breast cancer patients were dissatisfied with their sex life in general, and 50.0% reported low sexual interest; this was significantly more common than in tamoxifen-treated patients and controls (P < 0.05). Aromatase inhibitor-treated patients reported insufficient lubrication in 73.9% and dyspareunia in 56.5% of cases, which were significantly more common than in controls, irrespective of hormonal use (P < 0.05). Tamoxifen-treated patients reported significantly more dyspareunia (31.3%; P < 0.05) but resembled controls in all other concerns.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that sexual dysfunction in aromatase inhibitor-treated women is a greatly underestimated problem.
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