Erectile function (EF) in rhabdomyosarcoma of the bladder and/or prostate in childhood. what can we say to the parents?

Abstract

Purpose Multimodal treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma(RMS) of bladder and/or prostate has a cure rate of 60 to 70% for patients with localized disease. Apart from other complications of treatment future erectile dysfunction should be considered. To our knowledge no specific study addressing this question is available. We designed a retrospective evaluation of our data to answer this question. Material and methods This study was possible in five patients aged between 14 to 19 years who underwent multimodal treatment of RMS in childhood. To evaluate the EF of these patients a modified version of International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) was applied, because some patients didn't have sexual experience at the time of the study. Results All patients had spontaneous erections, libido and frequently masturbate. Patient number: 1 2 3 4 5 How often were you able to get an erection during masturbation? Sometimes Sometimes Most times Almost always/ always Almost always/ always When you had erections with sexual stimulation, how often were your erections hard enough for masturbation? Sometimes Most times Most times Almost always/ always Almost always/ always During masturbation, how difficult, was it to maintain your erection until you ejaculate? Extremely difficult Extremely difficult Not difficult Not difficult Not difficult How do you rate your confidence that you could get and keep an erection? Very low low Very high Very high Very high Conclusions Erectile dysfunction should be investigated in patients treated for rhabdomyosarcoma in childhood. Other cooperative studies are required.