SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF PROSTATE-CANCER

Improvements in the management of prostate cancer have increased the n eed to consider patients' quality of life, in particular in relation t o sexual function. The causes of sexual dysfunction are varied and der ive from both the condition and its management. Health professionals m ust choose their treatment strategies with great care. Patient expecta tions must be understood, and patients should be offered counselling, as an understanding of what can reasonably be expected contributes to patients' perception of their quality of life. There are few studies o n sexual dysfunction in patients with prostate cancer. A first step wo uld be to develop reliable questionnaires for the assessment of the pr oblem. This article describes and discusses the findings of one such r ecently developed questionnaire. When baseline measures of sexual func tion have been established and the extent of sexual dysfunction in pat ients with prostate cancer is reliably quantified, large multicentre t rials can be performed to evaluate the impact of different therapies o n sexual function and quality of life, Sexual dysfunction is an area w hich will be of increasing importance to urologists who manage prostat e cancer and one that should not be underestimated.