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Session: ePoster: Colon, Colorectal and Rectal Cancer (Sun225)

EP514 - Qualitative exploration of female sexual dysfunction following treatment for rectal cancer

Sunday, May 11, 2025
2:41 PM – 2:46 PM PT
Location: Monitor 7, Sails Pavilion, Upper Level

    ePoster Presenter(s)

  • Jessica Shanahan, FRCSC (she/her/hers)

    Colorectal Surgery Fellow/Resident
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    All of the relevant financial relationships listed below have been mitigated.
    This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.

    • Author(s)

  • HW

    Heather Wittick, n/a

    Medical student
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Disclosure information not submitted.

  • LB

    Lev Bubis, MD, MSc

    Assistant Professor of Surgery
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Disclosure information not submitted.

  • RH

    Ramzi Helewa, MD MSc FRCSC

    Associate Professor
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Disclosure information not submitted.

  • RR

    Reagan Robertson, MD, MSc, FRCSC

    Assistant Professor, Colorectal and General Surgeon
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Disclosure information not submitted.

    • Senior Author(s)

  • FS

    Farhana Shariff, MDCM, FRCSC

    Surgical oncologist/assistant professor
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    All of the relevant financial relationships listed below have been mitigated.
    This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.

All of the relevant financial relationships listed below have been mitigated.
Jessica Shanahan, FRCSC: This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.
Farhana Shariff, MDCM, FRCSC: This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.
Image or Table (Do Not add text here):

Purpose/Background: Advances in the treatment of rectal cancer have resulted in more extensive and varied neoadjuvant regimes as well as decreased rates of radical resection. The promising improvement in oncologic outcomes from these treatment regimes coupled with the alarmingly increasing rate of early onset colorectal cancer has necessitated an increased focus on rectal cancer survivorship.
It is known that treatments like radical resection, pelvic radiation, and systemic chemotherapy have negative impacts on patient urinary, defecatory, and sexual function, but the specific impacts with regards to new treatment regimes are not well understood. Specifically, there is a paucity of data regarding the sexual function outcomes of females after undergoing treatment for rectal cancer.
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of all modalities of rectal cancer treatment on female sexual function. The primary outcomes of interest include patient-reported changes in sexual function and overall quality of life.

Methods/Interventions: This single-province qualitative cohort study is ongoing. All adult female patients who underwent treatment for rectal cancer of any stage in the years 2022 and 2023 are being screened for inclusion in the study. Treatments include any combination of pelvic radiation (with or without sensitizing chemotherapy), systemic chemotherapy, and radical resection (anterior resection, low anterior resection, or abdominoperineal resection) with or without stoma creation. Patients who underwent pelvic exenteration will be excluded.
All eligible patients will be asked to complete the Female Sexual Function Index Short Version (FSFI-9) to describe both their pre-treatment and post-treatment sexual function.

Results/Outcomes: Results will be reported using descriptive statistics. Pre-treatment and post-treatment patient-reported sexual function will be compared using overall FSFI-9 scores as well as individual scores in each domain. Multivariate analysis will be used to determine factors predictive of greater impact on sexual function, including patient age, baseline sexual activity, menopausal status, stage at diagnosis, neoadjuvant treatment type, surgical procedure, presence of stoma, and select post-operative complications. Data collection will be completed by early 2025 and the results of the analysis will be available by the time of presentation.

Conclusion/Discussion: The present study is small-scale and subject to heavy recall bias, particularly in regard to the pre-treatment data. Despite these limitations, this project will help to establish a baseline understanding of the difficulties faced by female rectal cancer survivors in the sexual function domain, where there is a current gap in the literature. A follow-up study is planned utilizing semi-structured interviews which will be used in a grounded theory approach to determine themes of relevance to patients. These data will inform future, large-scale, prospective research into the topic.