Base International Index of erectile function score anticipates post-radiation therapy erectile function

It has been reasonably well established that vascular risk factors such as diabetes and coronary artery disease have a significant impact on erectile dysfunction before and after radical prostatectomy, but little is known about how those factors might affect patients undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer.

A study by psychologists and urologists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center helps correct that omission by showing that the factors affecting erectile function after prostatectomy have much the same impact after brachytherapy, external beam therapy, or a combination of the two. Specifically, the study concludes that each vascular risk factor that is present prior to surgery is likely to decrease International Index of Erectile Function–Erectile Function Domain (IIEF–ED) scores by 1.3 points at 24 months post-treatment.