Department of Radiation Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Sexual and Reproductive Medicine Program, Urology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
J Sex Med. 2017 Oct;14(10):1260-1269. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.08.005.
Choice of prostate cancer treatment is frequently influenced by the expected chance of treatment-induced side effects such as erectile dysfunction (ED). However, great discrepancy in cited ED rates exists in the contemporary radiation therapy literature.
To analyze the reported ED rates and cause of discrepancies and explore the strengths and limitations in the literature on radiation-induced ED.
We performed a PubMed literature search and reviewed the literature on ED rates associated with external-beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy from the past 10 years. Eighteen studies were eligible for inclusion and subsequently reviewed.
Variables required for interpretation of erectile function outcomes, including patient demographics, treatment characteristics, and sexual function outcomes.
A large variety in the reported incidence of ED was found among studies. In part, these differences resulted from large variations in (i) study populations, (ii) patient characteristics, (iii) treatment characteristics, (iv) prescription of androgen deprivation therapy, (v) means of data acquisition, (vi) definitions of ED, (vii) temporal considerations, and (viii) erectile aid use. Relevant data required for adequate appraisal of sexual function outcomes were not always reported.
Based on the present findings, we present general recommendations for reporting of erectile function outcomes after radiotherapy for prostate cancer. These should improve future reports.
This is the first report that presents general requirements on reporting erectile function outcomes in the setting of radiotherapy for prostate cancer. We did not conduct a formal meta-analysis because we focused on concepts of research design; this might be considered a limitation.
In this review, we have highlighted the strengths and deficiencies of the current literature on ED after external-beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy for prostate cancer. We have made general recommendations to achieve some degree of standardization among reports and improve clinical interpretability. Wortel RC, Incrocci L, Muhall JP. Reporting Erectile Function Outcomes After Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer: Challenges in Data Interpretation. J Sex Med 2017;14:1260-1269.
前列腺癌治疗方案的选择通常受到治疗相关副作用（如勃起功能障碍[ED]）预期发生率的影响。然而，在当代放射治疗文献中，ED 发生率的差异很大。
分析报告的 ED 发生率和差异的原因，并探讨放射诱导 ED 文献中的优势和局限性。
我们进行了 PubMed 文献检索，并回顾了过去 10 年中与外照射放疗和近距离放疗相关的 ED 发生率文献。有 18 项研究符合纳入标准，并进行了综述。
发现研究之间报告的 ED 发生率存在很大差异。部分原因是（i）研究人群、（ii）患者特征、（iii）治疗特征、（iv）雄激素剥夺治疗处方、（v）数据采集方法、（vi）ED 定义、（vii）时间考虑因素和（viii）勃起辅助使用等方面存在很大差异。并非总是报告评估性功能结局所需的相关数据。
基于目前的研究结果，我们提出了报告前列腺癌放射治疗后勃起功能结局的一般建议。这应该会改善未来的报告。
这是第一份报告，介绍了报告前列腺癌放射治疗后勃起功能结局的一般要求。我们没有进行正式的荟萃分析，因为我们专注于研究设计的概念；这可能被认为是一个局限性。
在本综述中，我们强调了外照射放疗和近距离放疗治疗前列腺癌后 ED 文献的优势和不足。我们提出了一些一般性建议，以实现报告之间的某种标准化，并提高临床可解释性。
