From diagnosis to treatment and beyond, the experience of having cancer is different for everyone. In this section, we discuss how to manage practical, physical and emotional issues, and ways to find inclusive cancer care.
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Overview
Cancer affects everyone differently. It can affect many parts of your life, including the way you look and feel, how you have sex and experience intimacy, and your fertility.
Cancer may cause physical changes that affect your sense of identity, as well as practical issues such as getting the right cancer screening and hospital care.
Language and terms we use
The words used to describe sexual orientation, gender and sex characteristics change over time, and you may not use the terms we’ve used in this booklet.
| Sexual orientation | How a person thinks about their sexual identity, how they behave and who they are sexually, romantically or physically attracted to. Examples include heterosexual, gay man, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual and asexual. Sexual orientation is different to gender identity. |
| Gender | How a person thinks about their gender including whether they identify as a man, woman, agender, genderqueer, genderfluid, or a combination of 2 or more of these. Gender can be binary (man or woman) or non-binary. Gender may align with the sex assigned at birth (cisgender) or it may be different (transgender). |
| Sex characteristics | A person’s physical characteristics, including genitals, gonads (ovaries and testicles), reproductive organs, hormonal patterns and chromosomal patterns. Sex characteristics can change over a person’s lifetime and may be different from the sex assigned at birth. |
| Intersex | An umbrella term used to describe people with variations in sex characteristics that do not fit medical and social norms for female or male bodies. |
Challenges you might face
Research shows that as an LGBTIQA+ person diagnosed with cancer, you may have to deal with some unique challenges. These may include health professionals making assumptions about your sexual orientation, gender or sex characteristics. This can make some people feel invisible.
You may also worry about telling health professionals about your sexual orientation, gender or sex characteristics because you fear negative reactions. For more information, see Coping with cancer.
Other challenges may include:
- depression and anxiety because of a history of stigma, violence,
- exclusion and discrimination (minority stress)
- seeing health professionals who do not have LGBTIQA+ knowledge
- limited LGBTIQA+ specific peer support
- concerns about access to gender-affirming care
- trouble having your partner/s or chosen family recognised
- less or no support from your family of origin.
LGBTIQA+ people and discrimination
Many LGBTIQA+ people have experienced discrimination and other negative experiences throughout their lives because of their sexual orientation, gender and/or sex characteristics. Sometimes discrimination may be a result of unconscious bias, assumptions or a lack of understanding. Other times, it may be deliberate.
If you have been discriminated against or refused health care in the past, you may not feel safe seeking health care. You may also feel unsure about sharing personal information with your cancer care team, even though it could help them provide more holistic care.
→ READ MORE: LGBTQI+ People and cancer risk
Key resource
The information on this page is also available for download.
We thank the chief investigators from the Out with Cancer research project: Prof Jane Ussher, Prof Janette Perz, Prof Martha Hickey, Prof Suzanne Chambers, Prof Gary Dowsett, Prof Ian Davis, Prof Katherine Boydell, Prof Kerry Robinson and Dr Chloe Parton. Partner investigators were Dr Fiona McDonald and A/Prof Antoinette Anazodo. Research Associates were Dr Rosalie Power, Dr Kimberley Allison and Dr Alexandra J. Hawkey.
We thank the reviewers of our LGBTQI+ People and Cancer booklet: Prof Jane Ussher, Chair, Women’s Heath Psychology and Chief Investigator, Out with Cancer study, Western Sydney University, NSW; ACON; Dr Kimberley Allison, Out with Cancer study, Western Sydney University, NSW; Dr Katherine Allsopp, Supportive and Palliative Care Specialist, Westmead Hospital, NSW; A/Prof Antoinette Anazodo OAM, Paediatric and Adolescent Oncologist, Sydney Children’s Hospital, NSW; Megan Bathgate, Consumer; Gregory Bock, Clinical Nurse Consultant–Oncology Coordinator, Urology Cancer Nurse Coordination Service, WA Cancer & Palliative Care Network, WA; Morgan Carpenter, Executive Director, Intersex Human Rights Australia (formerly OII Australia); Prof Lorraine Chantrill, Medical Co-Director Cancer Services, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, NSW; A/Prof Ada Cheung, Endocrinologist, Head, Trans Health Research Group, Department of Medicine (Austin Health), The University of Melbourne, VIC; Bonney Corbin, Australian Women’s Health Network; Cristyn Davies, Research Fellow, Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney and Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School, NSW; Prof Ian Davis, Professor of Medicine, Monash University and Eastern Health, Medical Oncologist, Eastern Health, Chair, ANZUP Cancer Trials Group, VIC; Rebecca Dominguez, President, Bisexual Alliance Victoria; Liz Duck-Chong, Projects Coordinator, TransHub and Trans Health Equity, ACON, NSW; Lauren Giordano, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council NSW; Hall & Wilcox (law firm); Natalie Halse, BCNA Consumer Representative; Jem Hensley, Consumer; Prof Martha Hickey, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne, and Director of the Gynaecology Research Centre, The Women’s Hospital, VIC; Kim Hobbs, Clinical Specialist Social Worker – Gynaecological Cancer, Westmead Hospital, NSW; Dr Laura Kirsten, Principal Clinical Psychologist, Nepean Cancer Care Centre, NSW; Amber Loomis, Policy and Research Coordinator, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia; Julie McCrossin and Melissa Gibson, Consumers; Dr Fiona McDonald, Research Manager, Canteen, NSW; Dr Gary Morrison, Shine a Light (LGBTQIA+ Cancer Support Group); Penelope Murphy, Cancer Council NSW Liaison, Prince of Wales Hospital, NSW; Dr Rosalie Power, Out with Cancer study, Western Sydney University, NSW; Jan Priaulx, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council NSW; Paul Scott-Williams, Consumer; Simone Sheridan, Sexual Health Nurse Consultant, Sexual Health Services, Austin Health, VIC; Cheryl Waller and Rhonda Beach, Consumers.
View the Cancer Council NSW editorial policy.
