Iris C. Gibbs, MD, FACR, FASTRO, of Stanford Medicine in California and Chair of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Council on Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, was an invited discussant for this study on physician assessment of sexual dysfunction in women vs men receiving brachytherapy for genitourinary cancers.

Iris C. Gibbs, MD, FACR, FASTRO

Sophia C. Kamran, MD

“An important aspect of patient care is how we view patients—the lens through which we approach our patients. We need to mitigate bias. Dr. Takayesu’s study turns the lens on us to be more inclusive and recognize the sexual morbidity associated with our treatments for all genders,” Dr. Gibbs continued. “This abstract was pioneering and innovative,” she added.

Another radiation oncologist, Sophia C. Kamran, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, also commented on this study. Dr. Kamran noted that she is one of the few female genitourinary radiation oncologists in the United States.

“The findings of this study were striking,” stated Dr. Kamran. “It is difficult to say why this is happening at one institution, as there could be potential bias at that institution. Another important factor would be to account for the gender of the radiation oncologist performing the initial consultation included in the study, which was not mentioned,” she continued. “Nevertheless, the next step would be to expand this study and evaluate more broadly, at multiple institutions, while taking the gender of the individual performing the initial consultation into account.”

Dr. Kamran noted: “In the field of genitourinary radiation oncology, pelvic radiation therapy affects sexual health for women with bladder cancer, who can have sexual toxicities and dysfunction. I would suspect that nationally, female sexual health is not discussed as commonly as it is discussed for men with prostate cancer,” she added. “It should not be ignored.”

At Mass General, Dr. Kamran refers her female patients at risk for sexual dysfunction to a designated sexual health nurse practitioner if they are interested. The nurse practitioner provides education and information about approaches for dealing with side effects. “However, this resource may not be available at all centers,” she noted. 

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Gibbs reported no conflicts of interest. Dr. Kamran’s spouse is employed by Sanofi Genzyme.