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Understanding the impact of cancer on the hopes and fears of older adult (age 60+), long-term (5 years +) survivors is important for assessing their quality of life after cancer. Prior quantitative research has shown the important role that cancer plays in the health and psycho-social well-being of survivors in the years and even decades after diagnosis and treatment. This presentation extends that research by examining both quantitative data and survivors’ narratives revealing important issues survivors face such as altered sense of self/identity, feelings of social isolation, key sources of social support as well as cancer and other health-related concerns. These are examined in the context of broader existential issues related to their hopes and fears for the future and differences by race, gender and cancer type are also presented. The data analyzed are from an NCI funded, 10-year longitudinal study based on in-person interviews with 321 survivors of breast, colorectal and prostate cancer to document how cancer-related factors have affected their aspirations for the future. The findings are discussed in the context of how the issues that survivors identified as affecting their hopes and fears may be integrated into the dialogue clinical staff can have with older survivors and their families as part of after-cancer care.

Previous research on aging has studied sexual health as well as cancer. However, less is known about the intersections of cancer survivorship, aging, and sexual health, particularly as it pertains to the gendered experiences of body image. The select studies available that consider the role of sex and intimacy after cancer have provided wholly quantitative or qualitative analyses. This study provides a mixed-methods approach of cancer survivorship and aging as it pertains to sexual health, particularly examining prostate, colorectal, and breast cancer survivors. In their narratives as to how cancer has influenced their sexual behavior, female breast cancer survivors construct their experiences around body image satisfaction. Men who are prostate cancer survivors note struggles around “performance” and impotence. Common issues for both men and women with colorectal cancer survivorship identify body image and impotence as affecting their sexual behavior. An underlying theme throughout all aging cancer survivors’ narratives is the role of relationships and the perceptions of their partner. Race, marital status, and education are also examined. The data analyzed are from an NCI funded, 10-year longitudinal study based on in-person interviews with 321 cancer survivors. The findings illustrate the importance of medical professionals providing wholistic after-care that is inclusive of aging survivors’ sexual health, relationships, and perception of self.