Prostate Cancer: Possible Side Effects
Before you and your doctor decide on a treatment, consider its potential effect on your sexual functioning.
Nerves and arteries that are important to achieving an erection are very close to your prostate. These can be damaged during radiotherapy and certain surgeries. Your testosterone level can affect your sex drive. So hormone therapy, which treats prostate cancer by reducing testosterone levels, may affect your sexual functioning as well.
Erectile dysfunction (ED)
Some treatments for prostate cancer can affect the nerves or arteries responsible for erections, and other treatments can affect your libido. Hormone therapy can cause a reduction in your sex drive and possible difficulties in achieving an erection. This is generally reversible when the therapy is discontinued.
The nerves that allow for an erection are very close to the prostate and can be easily damaged during surgery or by radiation therapy, causing erectile dysfunction (ED), also known as impotence. ED can also be caused by psychological issues or stress. ED means that you are unable to achieve or maintain an erection, but it does not change your ability to feel pleasure from touching or your ability to reach orgasm.
Dry orgasms
If you have a radical prostatectomy, you will no longer produce semen. This means that you will experience what's known as a dry orgasm during sex, which is when you climax but there is no ejaculation. Some men say that a dry orgasm feels normal but others find that their orgasms are weaker or feel less pleasurable than their orgasms before surgery. Nevertheless, a radical prostatectomy does not interfere with your ability to feel sexual desire and arousal.
Where should you turn for help in making a treatment decision? You should work closely with your doctor and assembled health care team to choose which treatment options are best for you.
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WHAT IS FIRMAGON?
FIRMAGON® is a prescription medicine used in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
FIRMAGON® should not be given to people who are allergic to any of the ingredients in FIRMAGON®. It should not be given to women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. FIRMAGON® can harm an unborn baby when given to a pregnant woman.
Before receiving FIRMAGON®, tell your healthcare provider about all your medical conditions, including if you have any heart problems, problems with balance of your body salts or electrolytes (such as, sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium), or have kidney or liver problems.
The common side effects of FIRMAGON® include: hot flashes, injection site pain, redness and swelling (especially with the first dose), weight gain, increase in some liver enzymes, tiredness, hypertension, back and joint pain, chills, urinary tract infection, and decrease sex drive and trouble with erectile function (impotence).
The information on this Web site is provided for educational purposes only. While there may be information on this Web site related to certain medical conditions and their treatment, should a medical condition exist, promptly see your own physician or health care provider as the information on this Web site is not intended to take the place of advice from a physician or health care professional. Ferring does not offer personalized medical diagnosis or patient-specific treatment advice. The statements made by doctors on this Web site represent their own individual experiences and opinions and is not intended to be medical advice. Indeed, only your doctor or other health care professional, as a learned intermediary, can determine if a product described in this Web site is appropriate for you.
This Web site is intended for US residents only.
* With continued use, FIRMAGON has been shown to maintain testosterone at medically acceptable levels for up to 1 year.1
** In secondary endpoints of a 1-year, pivotal, phase 3 noninferiority-designed study; FIRMAGON: n=207; leuprolide: n=201.1
References:
1. Klotz L, Boccon-Gibod L, Shore ND, et al. The efficacy and safety of degarelix: a 12-month, comparative, randomized, open-label, parallel-group phase III study in patients with prostate cancer. BJU Int. 2008;102(11):1531-1538. 2. Van Poppel H, Nilsson S. Testosterone surge: rationale for gonadotropin-releasing hormone blockers? Urology. 2008;71(6):1001-1006. 3. Lupron Depot® [package insert]. North Chicago, IL: Abbott Laboratories; 2008. 4. Weckermann D, Harzmann R. Hormone therapy in prostate cancer: LHRH antagonists versus LHRH analogues. Eur Urol. 2004;46(3):279-284.