The battle to preserve sexual potency after prostate surgery is one that many men will lose. But WTAE medical editor Marilyn Brooks reports that some new research is designed to help.

The following Healthcast report first aired July 28, 2003, on Action News at 5 p.m.

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For Tony King, the diagnosis of prostate cancer was upsetting. He knows he has to exercise more and eat healthier, but this 30-year veteran meatcutter also faces a difficult decision: should he undergo the surgical removal of his prostate or try to kill the cancer with a more gradual approach?

King: "I don't like to be cut on. I cut on myself enough, so I really don't want anybody else cutting on me. But if it has to be, it has to be."

There is one reason for his hesitancy: out of the thousands of men who have their prostates removed every year, more than half are left impotent.

Within the last two decades, surgeons have made dramatic improvements in the way they remove the prostate. Many now perform what they call nerve-sparing surgery, which means they spare the nerves around the prostate in hopes of sparing the man's potency.

Despite all that, a majority of men still experience problems.

Dr. Kamal Pohar: "The question arises, if you can spare the nerves in these men, why can they not regain their erections following surgery?"

Pohar is conducting research to answer that question and to see what other factors may be involved. It's his opinion that no matter how skilled a surgeon might be in sparing nerves and no matter how well the surgery may go, the damage may come after surgery when swelling and inflammation set in.

Pohar: "Inflammation comes with a trade-off. It's certainly beneficial and necessary for the healing of wounds, but it also releases molecules that can cause some detrimental effects to tissue."

Pohar hopes to better understand the cellular pathways that are affected by trauma to the nerves. He also hopes to determine whether it can be controlled by medicaton, or anti-inflammatory drugs that may prevent swelling after surgery, or perhaps even diet.

Currently, most men who regain sexual function following prostate cancer surgery do so within a year of the operation. A smaller number may not regain that function for longer periods of time. Some who are left impotent can be helped with therapy and medication.