Exercise may improve sexual function among men with prostate cancer
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Key takeaways:
- Exercise 3 days a week conferred more benefit than usual care for men with prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction.
- Exercise also appeared linked to greater Intercourse satisfaction.
Supervised resistance and aerobic exercise appeared to improve sexual function among men with prostate cancer, according to study results presented at ASCO Breakthrough.
Men who participated in the 3-days-a-week exercise reported improvements in erectile function and intercourse satisfaction compared with those who received usual care.
The addition of self-managed psychosexual therapy to exercise conferred no additional benefit.
“Sexual dysfunction is a common, distressing and persistent side effect of prostate cancer treatment,” researcher Daniel Abido Galvao, PhD, of the exercise medicine research institute at Edith Cowan University in Australia, said in a press release. “Our study shows that these patients can immediately benefit from supervised exercise interventions to improve their sexual health and that exercise should be considered as an integral part of treatment for prostate cancer.”
Background and methods
Approximately half of men with prostate cancer report unmet needs related to sexual health, and available health care services do not adequately address the demand for management of sexual dysfunction among men who undergo prostate cancer treatment, according to study background.
Galvao and colleagues conducted a three-arm randomized trial to assess the effects of supervised, clinic-based resistance and aerobic exercise — with or without self0-managed psychosexual therapy — on sexual health among men with prostate cancer.
The multicenter trial — conducted between 2014 and 2018 — included 112 men with prostate cancer who had completed treatment or were undergoing treatment and reported concerns about sexual dysfunction.
Researchers randomly assigned men to one of three cohorts: 6 months of supervised, group-based resistance and aerobic exercise (n = 39), the same exercise program plus psychosexual therapy (n = 36), or usual care (n = 37).
Patients exercised 3 days a week at university-affiliated exercise clinics. Psychosexual therapy consisted of self-management intervention to address psychological and sexual wellbeing.
Sexual health assessed with the International Index of Erectile Function served as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included body composition, physical function and muscle strength.
Results, next steps
Erectile function increased 5.1 points with exercise and 1 point with usual care (P for interaction = 01). Intercourse satisfaction increased 2.2 points with exercise and 0.2 points with usual care (P for interaction = .026).
The addition of self-managed psychosexual therapy to supervised exercise did not confer additional improvements.
Compared with usual care, exercise prevented increased fat mass (P for interaction = .028) and improved physical function. Researchers also reported improved lower body and upper body muscle strength among men assigned exercise.
Based on the results, men with prostate cancer who report concerns about sexual dysfunction should be encouraged to exercise, researchers concluded.
However, they emphasized additional research is necessary to establish long-term effects of exercise on the sexual health of men with prostate cancer.
“Exercise has previously been shown to improve some side effects of prostate cancer treatment,” Peter Paul Yu, MD, FACP, FASCO, director of cancer research at Palo Alto Medical Foundation and an ASCO expert, said in the release. “[These data extend] the benefits of exercise for patients with prostate cancer to also include sexual dysfunction, furthering the importance of physical activity.”
References:
- Exercise may improve sexual dysfunction caused by prostate cancer treatment, according to new study in Australia (press release). Available at: https://old-prod.asco.org/about-asco/press-center/news-releases/exercise-may-improve-sexual-dysfunction-caused-prostate-cancer. Published July 31, 2023. Accessed Aug. 1, 2023.
- Galvao DA, et al. Abstract 71. Presented at: ASCO Breakthrough; Aug. 3-5, 2023; Yokohama.
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Galvao DA, et al. Abstract 71. Presented at: ASCO Breakthrough; Aug. 3-5, 2023; Yokohama.
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