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A research team led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has discovered 12 genetic markers associated with the development of erectile dysfunction (ED) in prostate cancer patients treated with radiation.
The findings of the study will be published online in advance of the October 1, 2012 print issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology? Biology? Physics, the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.
The study will help clinicians determine the best treatment for prostate cancer patients and may lead to the development of therapies that alleviate side effects. The main treatments for prostate cancer, such as surgery, brachytherapy (seed implants) and external beam radiation therapy, are all highly effective. However, these treatments place patients at risk for ED. The National Cancer Institute states that the prevalence of erectile dysfunction following external beam radiation for prostate cancer ranges from 65 to 85 per cent. The Prostate Cancer Foundation estimates prevalence of ED following seed therapy at 25 to 50 per cent.
The research team conducted the first Genome-Wide Association Study to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with susceptibility for the development of erectile dysfunction following radiotherapy for prostate cancer. A two-part study was done in order to discover the candidate genetic markers of side effect risk, and to confirm which of those markers are replicated in a second group of patients.
The first group of prostate cancer patients included 132 men who developed erectile dysfunction after radiotherapy and 103 men similarly treated who did not develop erectile dysfunction. For the first group, researchers found a set of genetic markers associated with erectile dysfunction. The second part of the study examined 128 patients who developed erectile dysfunction after radiotherapy and 102 who did not; researchers confirmed that 12 SNPs were associated with erectile dysfunction.
“Thankfully, current treatments for prostate cancer offer excellent rates of long-term survival, so patients and their physicians have a choice about which treatment path to take,” said Barry Rosenstein, PhD, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “However, the risk of developing erectile dysfunction after radiation treatment is highly variable, suggesting there may be a genetic component to determining that risk. Our study confirms that specific markers make certain patients more susceptible to this side effect.”
The 12 SNPs identified were found to be located near genes that seem to be related to erectile function rather than related to radiation response. The researchers conclude that these SNPs may affect genes that sensitise a patient to developing erectile dysfunction when exposed to radiation during therapy.