Erectile dysfunction goes untreated among many long-term prostate cancer treatment survivors

October 8, 2006. Commercials for erectile dysfunction (ED) air several times a day on North American TV screens. But many prostate cancer survivors who acknowledge that they have erectile dysfunction, or impotence, say that they are not seriously bothered by the condition. And some men who agree that they are bothered say that they have never tried medications or devices to improve their erections.

Lack of experimentation with therapy for ED is more prevalent among patients with erectile concerns after brachytherapy or 3D-CRT than after radical prostatectomy, according to a study conducted by urologists and radiation oncologists at University of Michigan and at Harvard's Beth Israel hospital.

To find out how much sexual motivation plays into use of erectile dysfunction (ED) aids among localized prostate cancer treatment survivors, researchers at these medical centers mailed questionnaires to 896 men 4 to 8 years after brachytherapy, three-dimensional conformal external beam radiotherapy (3D-CRT), or radical prostatectomy. For comparison they sent questionnaires to 112 men in the same age range who had never required treatment for prostate cancer.

This study found that:

• The quality of erections unassisted by medications or devices was not different among the treatment groups.
• Prostate cancer survivors used medications or devices for ED more commonly than did the control men (30% versus 13%).
• One half of the prostate cancer survivors with ED said they did not care about their ED (small to no sexual bother despite absent or poor unassisted erections).
• Among men who were bothered about poor erections, 48% of the brachytherapy, 61% of the 3D-CRT, and 23% of radical prostatectomy subjects had never tried commonly available medications or devices to improve their erections.

The current use of at least one erection aid was an independent determinant of more favorable sexual QOL. The authors say that their findings suggest possible opportunities for improving sexual quality of life among long-term survivors.

Sources and links:

Urology, Volume 68, Issue 1 , July 2006, Pages 166-171
Use of medications or devices for erectile dysfunction among long-term prostate cancer treatment survivors: Potential influence of sexual motivation and/or indifference

David C. Miller, John T. Wei, Rodney L. Dunn, James E. Montie, Hector Pimentel, Howard M. Sandler, P. William McLaughlin and Martin G. Sanda.
Michigan Urology Center, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Division of Urology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

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