Letters to the Editor

Beyond survival: addressing sexual health in advanced prostate cancer care

Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Received: 30 May 2026
Published: 29 July 2026
8
Views
2
Downloads

Authors

Dear Editor,

The therapeutic landscape of prostate cancer (PCa) has changed considerably over the last decade, with clear improvements in diagnosis, including PSMA PET and fusion biopsies, treatment options, and survival. Consequently, a growing number of patients are now living longer after their PCa initial diagnosis, and increasing attention is progressively shifting toward long-term quality of life. In Italy, men living after a diagnosis of prostate cancer increased from 217,000 in 2014 to 485,000 in 2024, with a five-year survival rate of approximately 91% [...].

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

1. De Nunzio C, Lombardo R, Baldassarri V, et al. Rotterdam mobile phone app including MRI data for the prediction of prostate cancer: A multicenter

external validation. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2021; 47 :2640-2645. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejso.2021.04.033

2. Bauckneht M, Rebuzzi SE, Ponzano M, et al. Prognostic Value of the BIO-Ra Score in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients

Treated with Radium-223 after the European Medicines Agency Restricted Use: Secondary Investigations of the Multicentric BIO-Ra Study.

Cancers (Basel). 2022; 14:1744.

3. Mantica G, Pacchetti A, Aimar R, et al. Developing a five-step training model for transperineal prostate biopsies in a naïve residents' group:

a prospective observational randomised study of two different techniques. World J Urol. 2019; 37:1845-1850. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-018-2599-6

4. Brant A, Campi R, Carrion DM, et al. Findings from an international survey of urology trainee experience with prostate biopsy. BJU Int. 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000003253.17

131:705-711.

5. MacLennan S, Azevedo N, Duncan E, et al. Mapping European Association of Urology Guideline Practice Across Europe: An Audit of

Androgen Deprivation Therapy Use Before Prostate Cancer Surgery in 6598 Cases in 187 Hospitals Across 31 European Countries. Eur Urol.

2023; 83:393-401.

6. De Marchi D, Mantica G, Tafuri A, Giusti G, Gaboardi F. Robotic surgery in urology: a review from the beginning to the single-site. AME Med

J 2022; 7:16.

7. Hyun JS. Sexual function in men with prostate cancer. World J Mens Health. 2012; 30:99-107. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5534/wjmh.2012.30.2.99

8. AIOM, AIRTUM, Fondazione AIOM, PASSI, PASSI d’Argento, SIAPeC-IAP. I numeri del cancro in Italia 2024. Milano: Associazione Italiana

di Oncologia Medica; 2024. Available from: AIOM official report

9. Mainwaring JM, Walker LM, Robinson JW, Wassersug RJ, Wibowo E. The psychosocial consequences of prostate cancer treatments on body

image, sexuality, and relationships. Front Psychol. 2021; 12:765315.

10. Paterson CL, Lengacher CA, Donovan KA, Kip KE, Tofthagen CS. Body image in younger breast cancer survivors: a systematic review.

Cancer Nurs. 2016; 39:E39-E58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0000000000000251

11. Zambudio-Munuera A, Millán-Ramos I, Rodríguez-Parras P, et al. Early risk stratification after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: the role

of positive surgical margins. Arch Ital Urol Androl. 2026; 98:14871.

12. Nicolai M, Urkmez A, Sarikaya S, Fode M. Penile Rehabilitation and Treatment Options for Erectile Dysfunction Following Radical

Prostatectomy and Radiotherapy: A Systematic Review. Front Surg. 2021; 8:636974.

13. Donovan KA, Walker LM, Wassersug RJ, et al. The impact of androgen deprivation therapy on sexual function and bother in men with

prostate cancer. J Sex Med. 2017.

14. Mazzola CR, Mulhall JP. Impact of androgen deprivation therapy on sexual function. Asian J Androl. 2012; 14:198-203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/aja.2011.106

15. De Rose AF, Gallo F, Mantica G, et al. Comparison of intraoperative and postoperative results after tricomponent penile prosthesis implantation

under spinal versus local anaesthesia. Arch Ital Urol Androl. 2026

CRediT authorship contribution

Aldo Franco De Rose: Conceptualization, supervision, writing – review and editing. Sara Ciuffarella: Literature review, writing – original draft preparation. Fabrizio Gallo: Writing – review and editing. Guglielmo Mantica: Conceptualization, supervision, writing – review and editing.

Supporting Agencies

The authors received no specific funding for this work

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

How to Cite



Beyond survival: addressing sexual health in advanced prostate cancer care. (2026). Archivio Italiano Di Urologia E Andrologia. https://doi.org/10.4081/aiua.2026.15702