MedWire News: Contrary to conventional wisdom, men treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer experience a decline in sexual function (SF) for 2 years after treatment at which point it stabilizes, report researchers.
Previous studies have indicated that “SF after RT for prostate cancer follows a slow, progressive decline,” say Richard Valicenti, from the University of California in Sacramento, USA, and colleagues.
“Our data have indicated that… most SF decline in men undergoing EBRT for prostate cancer occurred in the first 2 years after treatment and all domains of SF, including erectile dysfunction (ED), then appeared to stabilize,” they report in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics.
The study included data from 143 prostate cancer patients treated with EBRT who completed a validated Brief Sexual Function Inventory questionnaire at baseline (before any treatment), and then at least once more after treatment during an average follow-up of 4.03 years.
Among the 143 patients who completed the questionnaire at baseline, 114 completed it again 2 years after EBRT, and the number of respondents decreased per year to just 44 at 6 years after treatment.
The questionnaire covered multiple areas of SF, which the researchers grouped into categories comprising sexual drive, erectile function, ejaculatory function, and overall satisfaction. The researchers then used the questionnaire results to analyze the change in potency rates over time for those men who were potent at baseline.
The results showed that patient age was significantly associated with sexual drive and erectile function, while ejaculatory function was significantly associated with age, race, and marital status.
Of the 94.0% of patients who reported their status at baseline, 74.1% were potent. At 1 year after treatment, 74.4% of those men remained potent, and after 2 years, 70.4% were still potent. This represented a statistically significant decline in potency in the 2 years following treatment. However, after the 2-year point, no further significant change was observed.
The most significant predictor for all SF areas, both function and satisfaction, was baseline SF.
“This information can help patients have realistic expectations of the treatment outcomes,” write Valicenti and team.
They conclude: “The finding that SF stabilizes 2 years after the completion of EBRT will allow patients and their partners a fuller understanding of the long-term side effects of EBRT and what to expect in the years after treatment.”
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