EXTERNAL-BEAM RADIATION TREATMENT FOR PROSTATE CANCER: SEXUAL FUNCTION
Sexual potency after external-beam therapy is reported to remain in between 54 percent and 86 percent of men. There is a range here because sexual potency is difficult to measure: Age, stage of disease, and a man’s sex life before treatment all play a role in his ability to have an erection afterward. Men younger than 60, who are sexually active and who are treated when the cancer is in the earlier stages (confined to the prostate) are most likely to remain potent after radiation treatment. However, many men treated with radiation are older, and more likely to have problems with impotence anyway—either because they’re taking medications that can interfere with sexual function, or simply because of their age.
One fact you should know about radiation therapy is that its effect on potency is slower and much more insidious than radical prostatectomy’s more immediate impact. Radiation seems to cause a man’s ability to have an erection to diminish over time (months to years); about half the men who receive it are impotent at seven years after radiation treatment. This is probably because radiation acts on the blood vessels, causing an eventual decrease in blood flow to the penis.
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