Sexual function in patients with metastatic midgut carcinoid tumours

Background: Sexual dysfunction is a poorly studied aspect of quality of life in patients with midgut carcinoid tumours. We investigated whether carcinoid patients experience sexual problems. Methods: Patients with metastatic midgut carcinoid tumours filled in a validated questionnaire for sexual dysfunction. The prevalence of dysfunction on the subscales arousal, erection, lubrication, orgasm and dyspareunia was compared to a Dutch reference population. Plasma concentration of gonadal hormones, tryptophan and urinary 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid concentrations were measured. Results: 43 patients were studied, 27 men and 16 women. Sexual dysfunction was present in 29.6% of men and 6.3% of women. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction on the different subscales did not differ from the reference population. Patients with a sexual dysfunction had, compared to those without a sexual dysfunction, a longer duration of disease, 95.3 months (range 5.4-314.5) versus 18.6 months (range 0.6-167.9) (p = 0.024), lower plasma tryptophan concentration (±SD) of 31.5 ± 16.1 and 48.9 ± 14.5 μmol/l (p = 0.031), and more often used interferon-α, 50% of patients versus 10.5% of patients (p = 0.044). Conclusion: Patients with metastatic midgut carcinoid tumours do not experience sexual problems more often than a reference population. Male patients with sexual dysfunction are characterised by more long-standing disease and lower tryptophan concentration. Copyright

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