Prostate cancer treatment greatly increases a man’s risk of complications like incontinence and erectile dysfunction Surgery increases the risk of these complications sevenfold Radiation increases the risk of bladder cancer or those complications threefold THURSDAY, Nov. 7, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Men who undergo prostate cancer treatment face a greatly increased risk of life-altering, long-term complications, a new study finds. Surgery for prostate cancers increases a man’s risk of urinary or sexual complications more than sevenfold, researchers reported Nov.
7 in the journal JAMA Oncology . Meanwhile, radiation therapy, the other major treatment option, causes a threefold increase in a man’s risk of similar complications or bladder cancer, researchers discovered. Many men might opt out of prostate cancer screening if they knew these potential risks, researchers argue.
“This study throws down a major gauntlet to all physicians to give patients this information before they even begin the process of drawing a PSA test,” said senior researcher Dr. Ian Thompson Jr. , a urologist with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
A PSA test measures the blood level of a protein called prostate-specific antigen. Men with rising PSA levels are at greater risk of prostate cancer. About 30 million U.
S. men are in the age range (55 to 69) recommended to discuss PSA testing with their doctor, researchers said in background notes. Making an informed decision a.