Sexual dysfunction in patients with cancer, a challenge in oncology practice: results of the CLARIFY project

Sexual dysfunction (SD) associated with oncological treatment is a common and understudied disorder. Our aim was to characterize SD in a cohort of Spanish patients.

Analytic observational study in patients included in the CLARIFY H2020 project at the Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro. Clinical variables and validated measures of sexual function were collected from October 2020 to May 2022. Frequency and quality of sexual activity were assessed. Descriptive, trend associations, and logistic regression analyses were performed.

A total of 383 patients were included: breast cancer 68.14% (261), lung cancer 26.37% (101), and lymphoma 5.50% (21). Mean age was 56.5 years (range 33-88). 19.58% (75) were men and 80.42% (308) were women. 69% and 31% of men and women, respectively, reported being sexually active. The absolute frequency of overall sexual dissatisfaction was 76% in women and 24% in men. Women with breast cancer were most likely to have severe sexual dysfunction. Those with early disease had resolved complaints after 5 years. In multinomial logistic regression, significant associations were found in women with metastatic breast cancer and severe disorders of arousal (p 0.000), lubrication (p 0.002), orgasm (p 0.000), as well as dissatisfaction with sexual performance (p 0.000) and global sexual dissatisfaction (p 0.000). Women with lung cancer have severe arousal dysfunction (p 0.016) and global sexual dissatisfaction (p 0.044).

Our population has a high prevalence of SD, which supports the need to increase awareness of this disorder among the medical oncology team and the importance of including sexual health assessment in oncological patient follow-up.