title: Counseling patients about sexual health when considering post-prostatectomy radiation treatment.
abstract: Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in men in the United States. Many men with clinically localized prostate cancer survive for 15 years or more. Although early detection and successful definitive treatments are increasingly common, a debate regarding how aggressively to treat prostate cancer is ongoing because of the effect of aggressive treatment on the quality of life, including sexual functioning. We examined current research on the effect of post-prostatectomy radiation treatment on sexual functioning, and suggest a way in which patient desired outcomes might be taken into consideration while making decisions with regard to the timing of radiation therapy after prostatectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5330, USA. dwittman@med.umich.edu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wittmann
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Montie
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hamstra
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sandler
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D003376:Counseling; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010413:Penis / Q000503:physiopathology; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation