Kiwi prostate cancer survivors have wrestled with ED following treatment, as discovered in new findings by the Prostate Cancer Foundation NZ.
Kiwis treated for our nation’s most commonly diagnosed male cancer – prostate cancer – report experiencing a confidence robbing,stigmatised treatment side-effect, erectile dysfunction (ED),according to Prostate Cancer Foundation New Zealand (PCFNZ) survey findings released today.
Nine in 10 (93 percent) survey respondents reported developing ED after treatment; 36 percent felt “robbed of confidence”; while 28 percent experienced “moderate compromise” to their mental health. PCFNZ’s release of the new survey findings today coincides with the first of six, free, PCFNZ public information evenings for prostate cancer survivors, and their families, kicking off in Tauranga this evening.
Featuring leading Urologists and health professional speakers, the PCFNZ ‘Prostate Cancer—Life After Treatment’ roadshow will tour Tauranga, Palmerston North, Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch, and Wellington between November 5th and 14, 2024. Running between 7:00 and 8:30 p.m., each event will discuss the potential side effects of prostate cancer treatment and treatment options available to help manage and aid recovery.
According to PCFNZ Chief Executive Officer, Peter Dickens, for the more than 4,000 New Zealand men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, treatment can disrupt urinary, bowel and sexual function.
“Findings from our PCFNZ ‘Life After Treatment’ survey complements data from the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry (PCOR NZ), which reported sexual function as the most compromised patient outcome associated with prostate cancer treatment – 38 percent of patients reported moderate to substantial ‘bother’, compared to bother with urinary function (10 percent) and bowel function (five percent).
“Our survey aimed to glean insights from patients treated for prostate cancer, on the physical, mental, emotional and relationship challenges they have faced,” said Mr Dickens.
“Numerous prostate cancer survivors experience distressing sexual and urinary difficulties following surgery, which compromise their mental health and wellbeing, and intimate relationships.
“Many men report their quality of life to be severely, or moderately affected by ED following prostate cancer treatment,” Mr Dickens said.
“Similarly, urinary incontinence (UI) can also significantly impair a man’s quality of life following prostate cancer treatment.”
ED is a common, yet under-diagnosed and under-treated men’s health condition affecting one in every three New Zealand men aged 40-70 years.
“Almost seven in 10 respondents (69 percent) to our survey reported they were experiencing ED very frequently (at least once a week), while nearly eight in 10 respondents (78 percent) have experienced UI, with 45 percent describing their symptoms as either ‘moderate’ or ‘severe’,” said Dickens.
“Concerningly, more than two in five (42 percent) of the prostate cancer survivors who participated in our survey reported they were neither informed, nor adequately educated on the possibility of developing ED after prostate cancer treatment. We are therefore, encouraging men and their families nation-wide, to attend our ‘Prostate Cancer: Life After Treatment’ public information evenings, to learn about, and discuss management and treatment options with leading experts in the field,” Dickens said.
Urologist and Clinical Director of Urology, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury, and Clinical Senior Lecturer, University of Otago, Mr Giovanni Losco, Christchurch, said ED is an outcome of prostate cancer surgery for many men. While the cancer may be effectively treated, those who fail to seek help may face future challenges with erectile function.
ED can lead to feelings of shame and frustration, may compromise mental health, and even taint a man’s view of himself as being ‘complete or whole’.
“Almost half (47 percent) of the Life After Treatment survey respondents reported living with ED following prostate cancer treatment had ‘severely affected’ their sex drive, while 37 percent were left feeling ‘moderately frustrated’, and 36 percent ‘lacking confidence’,” Losco said.
“Living with ED can further compromise men’s work, friend, and intimate relationships, with 40 percent of the survey respondents claiming the condition, post-prostate cancer treatment, had led to a ‘severe loss of intimacy’ with their partner.”
According to the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ) President, Professor Helen O’Connell, AO, men who have experienced, or are at risk of developing prostate cancer, need to know effective treatment is available for ED.
“As USANZ President, I want men to know that we recognise ED and UI as important health problems. Once men have both overcome, and recovered from prostate cancer surgery, I urge them to be proactive in understanding how to both prevent, and recover from ED and UI,” said Prof O’Connell.
Importantly, a significant cause of ED is a history of prostate cancer and its treatment.
“Should ED persist, don’t suffer in silence. Talk to your Urologist about your treatment options, because outside treatment for prostate cancer, there are other risk factors for developing ED,” Prof O’Connell said.
“While it may take a little bit of courage, there are potential rewards for your relationship, mental health, partner, and your partnership in addressing the underlying causes of, and accessing effective treatment for both ED and UI.”
Semi-retiree, father-to-two, and grandfather-to-three (with another on the way), Mike, 73, Tauranga, was diagnosed with ED and UI in 2016, following prostate cancer surgery. Although his UI improved within a few months, unfortunately Mike continued to grapple with the longer-term surgical side-effect, ED.
“Prostate cancer itself was a really big thing, but then I was forced to contend with additional changes to my body following the surgery. With UI, I set myself a goal to improve my symptoms, so I could stop using [incontinence] pads as quickly as possible,” he said.
“I followed up with my surgeon, visited a physio, did pelvic floor exercises, and had a nurse call in every week. I managed my UI well and recovered within two-to-three months. However, managing ED proved a much more protracted, complex journey, for which my main challenge was managing my compromised mental health,” said Mike.
He said that, as a man, he felt a loss.
“When you’re in a relationship, intimacy is vital, and I feared losing that special bond.”
Today, Mike has an important but poignant message for other Kiwi men (prostate cancer survivors or otherwise) living with ED.
“Be proactive, and take the conversation lead with your family doctor.”
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