Most Cancers Do Not Increase Divorce Rate

Norwegian researchers found the risk of divorce is no higher for couples with a spouse who has cancer, unless it is cervical or testicular cancer.

Researchers compared the divorce rates of 215,000 cancer survivors with those among couples with no cancer over a period of about 17 years.

Study leader Astri Syse of the Norwegian Cancer Registry in Oslo, Norway, found women who developed cervical cancer were 40 percent more likely than normal to get divorced, and testicular cancer survivors were 20 percent more likely to get divorced than similar men without cancer.

Syse said the two cancers affect intimacy, resulting in decreases in sexual desire, enjoyment and fertility. However, Syse proposed that cervical and testicular cancers mostly affect younger people.

We suggest that younger age is a stronger predictor than alterations in sexual function, Syse said in a statement. It is also possible that sexual problems or a weakening of the emotional rewards from the union are particularly devastating early in a relationship and that an increased care load is most difficult to accept at an age when illness is most unexpected.

The findings were presented at the European Cancer Conference in Barcelona, Spain.