A new UBC-led study is shedding light on a long-overlooked consequence of colorectal cancer: the lasting toll it can take on women’s sexual health, even years after treatment ends.
Researchers analyzed health data from more than 25,000 women in B.C. diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 1985 and 2017, comparing their experiences to those of cancer-free women. Cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation were linked to a range of long-term sexual health issues, including a 67 per cent higher risk of dyspareunia—pain during sex—a condition that can cause severe distress and affect quality of life. For women diagnosed before age 40, the risk jumped to 90 per cent.
The study also revealed that survivors were more than three times as likely to experience pelvic inflammatory disease and nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis. Among younger women, the risk of premature ovarian failure—or early menopause—was 75 per cent higher than in their cancer-free counterparts.
The study, published in JNCI: Journal of National Cancer Institute, is one of the first to use population-level data to explore sexual health outcomes for colorectal cancer survivors.
