By Adam Holtzman, MD
Many men are interested in sexual health following treatment for prostate cancer. In the largest known published analysis of patient-reported sexual health outcomes of potent men at baseline treated with external beam radiotherapy, we reviewed outcomes of men treated at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute.1 All patients underwent high-dose, image-guided proton radiotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer. Sexual function of potent men was almost 70% at 2 years and 61% at 5 years following treatment. This compares very favorably to other reported outcomes and treatment modalities even when factoring for baseline age and comorbidities. We also identified a highly favorable cohort: 80% men treated with high-dose image-guided proton radiotherapy who report “very good” function at baseline retained potency at 5 years.
1Adam L. Holtzman, Curtis B. Bryant, Nancy P. Mendenhall, William M. Mendenhall, R. Charles Nichols, Randal H. Henderson, Nicholas Figura, Christopher G. Morris, Christopher R. Williams, Zuofeng Li, Bradford S. Hoppe. “Patient-Reported Sexual Survivorship Following High-Dose Image-Guided Proton Therapy for Prostate Cancer.” Radiotherapy and Oncology 134 (2019): 204-210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2019.01.029
