Altered sexual health and quality of life in women prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation

Sexual Dysfunction in Multiple Myeloma

“…Risk factors for developing low testosterone levels in women include bilateral oophorectomy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), panhypopituitarism, and oral contraceptives (Clayton & Ramamurthy, 2008;Davis & Tran, 2001). In both men and women, autologous stem cell transplantation may decrease testosterone levels and induce menopause in women (Chatterjee et al, 2000;Tauchmanovà et al, 2005;Tierney et al, 2007).…”

“…A review of the literature regarding sexual function in patients with cancer is limited primarily to patients diagnosed with prostate, breast, or gynecologic cancers. One study focused on women with hematologic malignancies prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation and found that 73% of patients reported decreased libido and 48% were dissatisfied with their overall sex life (Tierney et al, 2007).…”

Nursing's Silence on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues

“…Nine of the 19 had only 1 mention of LGBT issues in the review of the literature or discussion. 34,44 One of the articles included sexual orientation in their demographic data collection procedures but did not analyze the data by sexual orientation. 45 One study found antihomosexual attitudes as one minor theme in the qualitative interviews about nurses' attitudes about sexual relationships between psychiatric patients but did not discuss the implications of this finding.…”

Challenges for Cancer Care Delivery to Adolescents and Young Adults: Present and Future

“…AYAs generally regard fertility as important, prefer biological offspring and want to have children in the fu- [31,32] . The risk of ovarian failure varies with the type of therapy, dose, duration and age of the patient, but the risk of having at least some posttreatment symptoms is significant [30] . For instance, one survey showed that following stem cell transplantation, all women have at least some postmenopausal symptoms [30] .…”

“…For women, cancer-directed treatments can decrease primordial follicles, affect hormonal balance or interfere with the function of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus or cervix even if menses do return [29] . Furthermore, premature ovarian failure not only causes infertility but can also lead to vasomotor symptoms and fatigue [30] . AYAs generally regard fertility as important, prefer biological offspring and want to have children in the fu- [31,32] .…”