Female Sexual Dysfunction in Breast Cancer Patients

In Egypt, cancer breast is one of the commonest cancers among females representing 38.8%.cancer breast among females ranked the top with a high frequency in lower, middle, upper Egypt (33.8%,26.8%,38.7% resp.).

Women who developed breast cancer were more amenable than women who remained free of breast carcinoma to experience reduced physical function, vitality, social function.

Difficulties related to sexuality and sexual functioning were common and occurred soon after surgical and adjuvant treatment. addressing these problems is essential to improve the quality of life of young women with breast cancer.

Sexuality is a basic and important domain of human experience that can be damaged during and following cancer treatment. The risk of sexual dysfunction is even of greater importance among young cancer patients and survivors, with young breast cancer patients at particularly high risk.

In cancer breast patients, various factors can induce sexual dysfunction. Some of these factors; hormonal alterations induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, or physiological and functional disturbances are related to the deterioration of physical condition. These factors are strictly clinical.

Other factors which induce disturbances in sexual behavior, such as anxious\ depressive reactions in adapting to illness and treatment and cancerophobic reactions and loss of self esteem that accompany any illness are more psychological\ psychiatric in nature.

Having sexual problems (or dysfunction) includes experiencing disturbances in sexual desire and physiological changes associated with loss of sexual desire and arousal, reduction in sexual pleasure, difficulty achieving orgasm, anxiety about sexual performance and pain during intercourse.