Does treatment for prostate cancer inevitably cause sexual dysfunction or impotence?

Answer 1

This is what The National Cancer Institute has to say about the sexually related side effects of prostate cancer treatments. There are also other side effects aside from sexual ones, visit the site to learn more.

to remove the prostate may cause long-term problems, including incontinence. After surgery, some men are unable to control the flow of urine from the bladder (urinary incontinence). If the rectum is injured, men may be unable to prevent the escape of stool from the body (fecal incontinence).

Some men may become impotent. Nerve-sparing surgery is an attempt to avoid the problem of impotence. When the doctor can use nerve-sparing surgery and the operation is fully successful, impotence may be only temporary. In some cases, however, even men who have this procedure become permanently impotent. Men can talk with their doctor about medicine and other ways to help manage the sexual effects of cancer treatment.

Men who have a prostatectomy no longer produce semen, so they have dry orgasms. Men who wish to father children may consider sperm banking or a sperm retrieval procedure.

Both internal and external can cause nerve damage that results in impotence. However, internal radiation therapy is not as likely to have this effect.

Internal radiation therapy may cause temporary incontinence. Long-term side effects from internal radiation therapy are uncommon.

and finally:

-- Orchiectomy and LH-RH agonists are likely to affect a man's quality of life. They often cause side effects such as impotence, hot flashes, loss of sexual desire, and weaker bones. When first taken, an LH-RH agonist may make a patient's symptoms worse for a short time. This temporary problem is called "flare." Gradually, however, the treatment causes a man's testosterone level to fall. Without testosterone, tumor growth slows down and the patient's condition improves. (To prevent flare, the doctor may give the man an antiandrogen for a while along with the LH-RH agonist.)

[From What You Need To Know About Prostate Cancer at the National Cancer Institute website]

Answer 2

Yes, Treatment on Prostate cancer with medicine reduces the libido level and the penile blood flow thus it hampers the sexual activities and leads to male impotence.