Living with and beyond cancer
Body image after cancer treatment
Cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy can change the way a person’s body looks, works or feels.
Such changes can affect self-confidence and interactions with other people, particularly where the affected parts of the body are associated with a person’s sense of masculinity or femininity, or are highly visible to others, such as the face.
People may feel unhappy about their body during cancer treatment but for many these feelings resolve as they recover. However, for others the effects are longer lasting.
Body image and mastectomy
Some women and most men who are treated for breast cancer have the whole of the affected breast removed (mastectomy). This can result in a feeling of 'lop-sidedness' and some women may feel their womanhood has been 'damaged'.
Wearing a prosthesis inside a bra can help overcome fears about altered appearance, or reconstructive surgery may be an option. Most women we spoke to had come to terms with losing a breast and had no long-term issues surrounding their femininity as a result, although one woman said that finding suitable clothes was a problem.
Frances didn't want a prosthesis after her mastectomy for breast cancer but opted for a reconstruction using tissue from her abdomen; the cosmetic results have been 'the joy of her life' ever since.
Frances didn't want a prosthesis after her mastectomy for breast cancer but opted for a reconstruction using tissue from her abdomen; the cosmetic results have been 'the joy of her life' ever since.
After having a mastectomy for breast cancer Christine finds it difficult to obtain suitable clothes without a low neckline.
After having a mastectomy for breast cancer Christine finds it difficult to obtain suitable clothes without a low neckline.
I think mainly, it’s being feminine. There are no clothes, you can’t wear v-necks, too low v-necks, and you can’t wear this and you can’t wear that, because you haven’t got a boob, and either I could have had breast reconstruction but, as neither my husband or my children ever seemed to be bothered about what I looked like, I never bothered to go for it. So that was the end of that really. So I didn’t bother about that but I could have done. But even today I find the clothes a problem, and swimwear, and there’s no point in looking in fashion magazines because none of them are ever going to be any good for you, unless you’ve had reconstruction, and then there’s the scarring, because you’ve been, on my side I can see the scar underneath my arm.
Of the men we spoke to who had had a mastectomy for breast cancer, most said they were not bothered by the scars or the change in shape of their chest. However, others felt self-conscious and were reticent about exposing their chest in public, such as when swimming; some would have liked to be offered reconstruction.
Bill had all the breast tissue removed from both sides of his chest because of cancer and had new nipples tattooed onto his chest so he looked the same as before. He felt he had been ‘reborn as a man’.
David feels his chest is lopsided after having a mastectomy for breast cancer. He was self-conscious about it at first but is less bothered now. He regrets that he wasn't offered reconstruction.
David feels his chest is lopsided after having a mastectomy for breast cancer. He was self-conscious about it at first but is less bothered now. He regrets that he wasn't offered reconstruction.
I have done swimming, yeah, but I think you’re self-conscious at first cos you think everybody’s looking at you, but… I wouldn’t be bothered, no, you know? I’d go swimming if I needed to go swimming.
Body image and reproductive organ cancer treatment
Similarly, women who had treatment for gynaecological cancers (cervical, ovarian) could feel 'less of a woman' as a result, but many we spoke to said that because the effect on their reproductive organs was not visible it was easier to cope with.
While some said it was not a problem for them once the operation scars had faded, others said they felt different inside although the change was not outwardly apparent.
After having radiotherapy for cervical cancer when she was 42 years old, one woman said she 'felt less of a woman because her ovaries no longer worked', even though the results were not visible.
Older women sometimes mentioned that losing their reproductive organs did not have an impact on their feelings of femininity.
She was glad that it was not obvious to other people that she'd had a hysterectomy for cervical cancer but she felt different inside.
She was glad that it was not obvious to other people that she'd had a hysterectomy for cervical cancer but she felt different inside.
I'm lucky that with this sort of surgery that people can't see it, if you have surgery on the face or something, hugely difficult for people for different reasons really. But you do feel so different even though nobody can see it, which of course has its own problems, as I said before, you know you look fine, but may not necessarily feel that way inside.
Men diagnosed with testicular cancer often have the affected testicle surgically removed (orchidectomy). The men we spoke to said that although they had felt a short-term sense of loss, they were now satisfied because they could function normally with only one testicle, and it was not visibly obvious that they were missing one.
After having an orchidectomy for testicular cancer his sense of loss was short-lived; he says he now finds it preferable to have only one testicle.
After having an orchidectomy for testicular cancer his sense of loss was short-lived; he says he now finds it preferable to have only one testicle.
Reconstruction using a prosthetic testicle is possible either at the same time or in a separate operation later. Those who had been offered later reconstruction declined it because they did not want a second operation and possible complications from it.
One said he would have had a prosthesis if it had been offered at the same time as the orchidectomy.
He was offered a prosthetic testicle 6 years after having a cancerous testicle removed. He declined because it was not obvious that he only had one and he didn't want a second operation.
He was offered a prosthetic testicle 6 years after having a cancerous testicle removed. He declined because it was not obvious that he only had one and he didn't want a second operation.
It was never discussed, I was never offered a prosthesis. I've been offered one recently, I recently, in June of this year, had another check-up and I was offered one, 6 years later and I'm not in the least bit interested, not in the least bit. For one, I wouldn't want to go through that operation again, because it's the same operation to put a false testicle in as it was to remove the first one. So you'd be off work for 2 weeks, apart from anything else, and the pain would be just the same and I wouldn't achieve anything from it. If I walk down the street now with the next guy, nobody knows whether I've got one, two or none, so it doesn't make any odds to me. It doesn't stop you sexually, you still produce sperm at that point, so it doesn't make any difference.
Others did have the procedure done; one man said it had been a very straightforward operation, and he was very happy with the cosmetic result. Another had doubts about whether it had been the right decision.
He had a prosthetic testicle inserted at the same time as having a cancerous testicle removed because he wanted to maintain his masculinity. Looking back, he's not sure why he did it.
He had a prosthetic testicle inserted at the same time as having a cancerous testicle removed because he wanted to maintain his masculinity. Looking back, he's not sure why he did it.
Cancer of the penis is rare and tends to occur in older men. It is usually treated by surgery, and the extent of surgery depends on the size and position of the tumour. Reconstructive surgery may be possible.
Les had a small area of his penis removed and was worried that it might not work properly afterwards, but his worries were short-lived.
After a recurrence of his penile cancer Barry had the whole of his penis removed. Although he no longer feels like a man as a result, he is glad to be alive.
After a recurrence of his penile cancer Barry had the whole of his penis removed. Although he no longer feels like a man as a result, he is glad to be alive.
But I’d always had one thought or one hope that to stop the cancer from going inside my body I could’ve, and they cut my penis off, and if cutting my penis off could stop the cancer from going inside my body then well, it’s like there’s no comparison really, is there? If you want to live then you cut it off. And by this time I’d had, like, ten years to come to terms with it. I knew I was going to lose and, like, I was, like, in my sixties so…… but I never ever really sat down and thought, ‘Oh I’m going to lose my penis, what am I going to do?’ It never, I think I thought about that more when I was fifty-one than I did do in my sixties, but I can’t really say to you that I thought, I worked myself up into a state, ‘oh I’m going to lose my penis,’ the only saving grace for me was that I had cancer but it was outside my body. So to stop me having cancer inside my body, if they cut my penis off…….. looking at it like……. if you cut something off that’s not inside your body then it’ll never get inside your body. So, I mean, like, since I’ve lost my penis, I mean, like, about five years has gone down the line, I’m sat here talking to you, I haven’t liked what’s happened to me – nobody likes what happens to you because as a bloke your penis to me, the only reason you’re a man is because you’ve got a penis. So if you haven’t got a penis, in some senses you’re not a man. That’s how I look at it. But I’d plenty of time from me first contracting cancer on my penis to, like, when my, like, ten years had elapsed, so I’d plenty of time when it came back, as it did do, I was glad for them, in a sense, to take it off me because I knew it was going to stop the cancer from, like, getting inside my body. So if you want to live, it goes doesn’t it? I’m not happy about it but I’m still here talking to you now, and I go and see the specialist in June, next month, to see what he’s got to say, but all the signs are that everything’s hunky dunky and rosy, so I, well you can’t say no more about that, I’m alive aren’t I, so that’s it.
Body image and scarring
Surgical scars, rather than losing a part of their body, were a source of distress for some people, but their feelings changed as scars faded over time. Having had a partial circumcision and radiotherapy for penile cancer, a man said, 'I look OK but it can be frightening if I take my clothes off'.
Julie was glad that her chemotherapy central lines had been inserted into her groin rather than her chest as the scars in her groin were only visible to her and her husband.
Eleven years after having colorectal cancer David was not self-conscious about his scars but noticed people looking at them when he was sunbathing on holiday.
Eleven years after having colorectal cancer David was not self-conscious about his scars but noticed people looking at them when he was sunbathing on holiday.
Body image resulting from other changes caused by cancer and treatment
Other unwelcome body changes caused by cancer treatment that people mentioned included menopause (see also ‘Hormone changes’) and weight gain. Sandra said she felt 'fat and sweaty and has been robbed of her femininity'.
Another woman said her weight gain was probably due to several factors, and she hoped it would sort itself out in time. Pauline said that she also lost some teeth; tooth decay or loose teeth can be a side effect of certain drugs or radiotherapy to the jaw.
Radiotherapy or hormone therapy can also affect hair growth, and some people said that no longer having hair on certain parts of their body was an advantage of their cancer treatment. Claire also liked the softness of her skin after radiotherapy.
Having an understanding spouse or partner was very helpful in enabling people to overcome their feelings about unwelcome body changes after cancer treatment. Some women who had surgery for breast or ovarian cancer said that their husband still loved them the same as before and made them feel no less womanly as a result of their loss.
A man who had to have both testicles removed said he had felt emasculated at first but that he had overcome his feelings thanks to having a caring partner.
A man who had to wear an ileostomy bag after colorectal cancer surgery felt unclean and believed that his stoma must be off putting for his wife, but that she hadn’t allowed it to affect their sex life (see ‘Sexual functioning and intimate relationships’).
Women who felt tired and lacked energy due to chronic leukaemia often said that they made more of an effort to dress up and look good to overcome how they were feeling.
Last reviewed: January 2025.
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