The Late Side Effects of Prostate Cancer Radiation Treatment
Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatment options for patients suffering from prostate cancer. Given optimum conditions, including skilled medical personnel and modern, high-tech equipment, effective radiation therapy can offer a cure for localized tumors. As with all treatments, however, it is wise to consider not only the immediate, or acute, symptoms of the therapy but the late side effects as well.
Urinary Side Effects
After surgery, urinary incontinence is usually a short-lived side effect; not so with radiation. Symptoms of urinary leakage and frequency begin later with radiation, up to two years after treatment has been completed, and the problems may worsen over time. After a typical nine-week course of radiation therapy, the urethra may sustain damage, no longer providing an effective barrier to urine.
Bowel Side Effects
The rectal wall is exceedingly more susceptible to damage from radiation therapy than the prostate gland. Bowel symptoms, such as frequent and loose stools, will occur when the rectal wall receives a significant amount of injury. According to Dr. Peter T. Scardino, chairman of the Department of Urology at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, although only 6 percent to 8 percent of patients will develop inflammation of the rectum in the early stages of radiation therapy, 35 percent of men complain of bowel problems a year after the treatment. Two years after treatment, diarrhea, rectal urgency and bleeding may continue to be an issue.
Bleeding
Because radiation can cause ulceration in the lining of the urethra, late side effects of the treatment include bleeding and pain. Although only 1 percent to 3 percent of patients who suffer severe bleeding require transfusions or removal of the bladder, blood vessels may become abnormal and the bladder may receive a great amount of incidental injury.
Erectile Dysfunction
Forty percent to 50 percent of a radiation dose is absorbed by the penis. Because it is impossible to avoid injuring the erectile nerves when irradiating the prostate gland, unlike prostate surgery, the effect of radiation on erections may not become pronounced until years after treatment. Radiotherapy causes a gradual loss of erections through injury to the erectile nerves and blood vessels that provide circulation to the penis. Dosage, type of radiation, stage of the cancer and medical skill all affect the severity of erectile dysfunction, which may not become a real problem until a year after treatment, affecting 30 percent to 50 percent of patients. Additionally, radiation mutates sperm cells, so it would be highly unlikely that a man could father a child post-therapy.
Hair Loss
Many men suffer a permanent loss of pubic hair if that area has received a full dose of radiation.
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