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Quality of life after cancer prostate treatment; study of side effects of different optionsA recent study investigated today's prostate cancer treatments and their side effects related to possible sexual, urinary or other problems. Of the choices investigated - surgery, standard radiation, hormone therapy or radioactive seeds - the last one seemed to carry a lower risk of several of these side effects. The research, suggests that hormone therapy - when combined with radiation - had a big effect on men's vitality and sexuality. Investigators also found that the radioactive pellets sometimes led to sexual problems too, but more often involved discomfort in urinating. The study concluded that no prostate procedure is clearly best or worst across the board, as well as not every treatment is an option for every man. Expert pointed that radioactive pellets are generally used only in men with early-stage cancer that is slow-growing. As slow-growing form of cancer that can take 10 or 20 years to become life-threatening, the decision related to its treatment depends on patient's age. For example, while for a man of, say, 50, the study provides some insight into the side effects of different options, an 80-year-old man may choose to avoid all treatment and the assorted complications. The researchers surveyed about 1,200 patients and concluded that men experienced, to varying degrees related to treatment option, problems with urinating, achieving erections and moving their bowels. About 13 percent of men who had brachytherapy said they were distressed by erection problems one year after treatments, while about 22 percent of the men that underwent traditional radiation and 44 percent in the surgery group reported the same concern. The researchers also found that men who had hormone treatments in addition to traditional radiation had worse recovery of sexual function. Incontinence was most common in the surgery group, but when other urinary problems were counted, too - including pain and increased frequency - the brachytherapy group looked worse. The brachytherapy group also reported a burning sensation or other pain, weak urinary stream and a sense of not being able to empty the bladder. Bowel problems, such as rectal pain and frequency of having to go to the bathroom, were similar in the brachytherapy and radiation groups at one year, and lower in the surgery group. Patients in radiation group reported the least energy and most depression a year after treatment. Within their final report, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, researchers agree that the most important achievement is that men should use the study findings when ask the advice of their physicians about the side effects of different treatments and each man must make his own decision, based on his concerns and condition. NOTE: Issues on this site regarding men's health and their concerns, are provided for information only, and are not meant to substitute for the advice of your own physician or other medical professional. Prostate-Report.org does not endorse any specific product, service or treatment. |
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