Erectile dysfunction following treatment of prostate cancer: new insights and therapeutic options

Prostate cancer remains the most common cancer in adult men. Its treatment usually results in compromised or absent erectile function. This article will review the treatment options available to resume sexual activity following prostate cancer therapy and will focus on non-surgical treatment options. In addition, intracavernosal injection therapy has been shown to enhance recovery of spontaneous, unassisted erections when started shortly after nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy. Most recently, oral treatment with sildenafil citrate begun shortly after surgery was shown in a placebo-controlled trial to encourage return of normal erections. Presumably this occurs by promoting nocturnal erections which appear to prevent the permanent neurovascular damage to the penis following radical prostate surgery.