A new U.S. study supported by the National Cancer Institute will examine the effects of treatment for prostate cancer on quality-of-life issues such as sexual dysfunction, temporary incontinence, and rectal problems.

These types of concerns are shared by many patients who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and must make a difficult choice between various surgery options, radiation therapy, radioactive seed implants, or watchful waiting, according to Martin Sanda, MD, lead investigator at a participating university center. He added that misconceptions about the severity and longevity of those side effects may also prevent a man from proceeding with appropriate treatment. “In some cases, men may turn to new and untested prostate cancer treatments under the erroneous assumption that something new will be better than refined surgical or radiation techniques that have been improved through years of experience.”

For example, surgery side effects such as urinary incontinence can be common in the immediate postoperative period, but they usually are only temporary. In fact, the majority of men do recover their urinary control several months after surgery. In contrast, radiation side effects on sexuality or colon function can develop over several months or years. Seed implants are now known to be associated with similar side effects as those seen after either external radiation or surgery, said Sanda.

The study will carefully measure level of function and quality of life at baseline and then monitor the men and their domestic partners’ quality of life following treatment.
Sanda hopes that a national study on quality of life after prostate cancer treatment conducted through several leading medical centers will produce findings that will allow physicians to correct some of the misinformation about refined existing treatments and place the untested promises of newer treatments in the appropriate context.