[Sex disorders in cancer patients]

The diagnosis of cancer can interfere with a patient's sexual relationship. It has an important impact on his "quality of life". The organ site of the cancer may be the primary cause of sexual dysfunction. Treatment modalities increase such dysfunction. The way the patient lives his disease with his family, the treatment he receives and the spectrum of death wielded by the word cancer lead to a multifactorial dysfunction which is often difficult to analyse. Although each individual member of the therapeutic team usually concentrates on one technical aspect of the disease, but prevention and treatment of sexual dysfunction has other requirements. One must listen to the patient, help coordinate the interaction between the patient's family, his personal physician and the oncology team. Coordinated efforts are difficult to achieve and not always sufficient.