Androgen deficiency symptoms in testicular cancer survivors are associated with sexual problems but not with serum testosterone or therapy.

Objectives: To investigate the association between androgen deficiency symptoms and sexual function, serum testosterone, and therapy in testicular cancer survivors (TCS).

Methods: A total of 83 patients treated for testicular cancer were investigated. All patients completed the International Index of Erectile Function-15 and the Aging Males Symptoms scale. Age, months of follow-up, treatment modality, and serum testosterone levels were measured. Scores for the erectile function, orgasmic function, sexual desire, intercourse satisfaction, and overall satisfaction subdomains of the International Index of Erectile Function-15 were calculated.

Results: Overall, almost half (47.0%) of TCS experienced clinical symptoms of androgen deficiency, 28.9% had erectile dysfunction, and 25.3% had laboratory-proven hypogonadism. TCS with clinical symptoms of androgen deficiency were significantly older (median age 45.0 vs 37.5 years, P = .001) and had a longer follow-up (median follow-up 48.0 vs 39.5 months, P = .985, respectively) than TCS without symptoms. TCS with clinical symptoms had significantly lower scores for erectile function (P = .004), orgasmic function (P = .05), sexual desire (P = .001), intercourse satisfaction (P = .005), and overall satisfaction (P = .001) than those without symptoms. The aging males' symptoms correlated significantly with erectile dysfunction (r = -0.410, P = .001). In TCS with symptoms, age (r = -0.457, P = .003), but not treatment modalities (r = 0.223, P = .173) or testosterone levels (r = 0.205, P = .210), correlated with sexual function.

Conclusions: Clinical symptoms of androgen deficiency were associated with sexual problems and increasing age, but not with serum testosterone or treatment.