Possible Side Effects of Treatment
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.
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
FIRMAGON® is a GnRH receptor antagonist indicated for treatment of patients with advanced prostate cancer.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
The most commonly observed adverse reactions during FIRMAGON® therapy included injection site reactions (e.g., pain, erythema, swelling or induration), hot flashes, increased weight, fatigue, and increases in serum levels of transaminases and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). 99% of these observed adverse reactions were Grade 1 or 2 (mild to moderate). Specifically relating to the injection site adverse reactions, most were transient, of mild to moderate intensity, occurred primarily with the starting dose and led to few discontinuations (<1%). Grade 3 (severe) injection site reactions occurred in 2% or less of patients receiving FIRMAGON®.
FIRMAGON® is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to degarelix or to any of the product components. FIRMAGON® is not indicated in women or pediatric patients. Long-term androgen deprivation therapy prolongs the QT interval. Physicians should consider whether the benefits of androgen deprivation therapy outweigh the potential risks in patients with congenital long QT syndrome, electrolyte abnormalities, or congestive heart failure and in patients taking Class IA (e.g., quinidine, procainamide) or Class III (e.g., amiodarone, sotalol) antiarrhythmic medications.
Please see the Full Prescribing Information. You can view or download it by clicking on the link in the right-hand column of the page.
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