Cancer leaflet given to NHS patients says removing body parts can be ‘gender-affirming’

Cancer patients are being told that surgery to remove body parts containing tumours can be “gender-affirming”.

Leaflets given to NHS patients at cancer centres and made by charity Macmillan, tell patients that surgery could be an opportunity “to remove a body part that you prefer not to have anyway”.

A leaflet available for patients at Weston Park Cancer Centre in Sheffield has been described as “staggeringly inappropriate and insensitive”.

A charity said it was “disgusting” that a health centre was promoting “some kind of two-for-one deal” on life-changing cancer surgery.

The materials are not made by Weston Park or the NHS but were on display to cancer patients at the centre. They say they were made in partnership with LGBT cancer charity Outpatients, and replicate statements found on the Macmillan website.

“Sometimes surgery to treat cancer is also gender-affirming. Surgery to remove the cancer may remove a body part that you prefer not to have anyway,” it said. “Again, it is helpful if your team understands how you feel about this, so they can support you and plan your treatment well.”

There are multiple cancers that could involve surgery to remove a body part associated with one sex.

Breast cancer patients can sometimes require a mastectomy to remove one or both breasts, to treat the tumour and also reduce the chance of it returning.

Women with ovarian or womb cancer can also sometimes require a hysterectomy to remove the uterus, which also means they can no longer get pregnant.

For men, the testes or prostate can be surgically removed as a way of treating those cancers too.

The materials offer other advice to LGBT patients on taking cross-sex hormones while having treatment and the risks of radiotherapy if a patient wants to or has had genital surgery.

It also explains that “some side effects can be upsetting because they cause changes that do not reflect how you identify”.

“For example, hair loss or a change in your weight or body shape may be upsetting if your appearance is an important part of your gender identity,” it reads. “Some treatments might change part of your body that you have worked hard to align with your gender.”

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at human-rights charity Sex Matters, said: “Trying to put a positive ‘gender-affirming’ spin on mastectomies is staggeringly insensitive and inappropriate from Weston Park Cancer Centre.

“Female survivors of cancer have been saying for years that trans activists’ promotion of elective mastectomies as a treatment for gender distress is deeply upsetting,” she said.

“For a health centre to suggest that life-saving surgery for cancer patients might offer some kind of two-for-one deal, with gender affirmation thrown in, is frankly disgusting.”

‘Particularly disturbing’

Kate Barker, chief executive of LGB Alliance, said: “Mastectomies are life-changing and it’s shocking to see them treated with such flippancy.

“It’s particularly disturbing to see this message targeted at lesbian and bisexual women, implying that this group might be ‘affirmed’ by losing their breasts.”

Prof Chris Morley, chief nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Weston Park Cancer Centre, said: “A large number of organisations, including Macmillan, provide information that is valuable to our patients.

“We recognise that there has been feedback on the content of this booklet, and we do not want anyone to be distressed by anything we have available, so we have raised this with the authors to make them aware of the concerns.”

A Macmillan spokesman said: “Macmillan wants to make sure that everyone, whoever they are and whatever their circumstances, gets the care they need when they are diagnosed with cancer, without judgment or prejudice.

“We are proud to have many partnerships with patient groups who help shape our cancer resources and ensure we meet the specific needs of different communities with tailored information and support that is right for them.

“In this case, the booklet and supporting content on our website was produced in partnership with Outpatients, a charity that works with and for people who are LGBTQ+ and have cancer, to support them through their diagnosis and treatment.”