Urinary Incontinence After Prostate Cancer Treatment

Prostate cancer treatment (surgery or radiation therapy) is often followed by the inability to control urine (incontinence).  However, there are different types of urinary incontinence and differing degrees of severity. Some men dribble urine while others experience a total leakage. Loss of urine with a cough, sneeze or laugh is called stress incontinence and is the most common type of urine leakage men experience after prostate surgery. Radiation therapy most often produces the need to urinate frequently with some episodes of leakage.

Normal urinary control returns for most prostate cancer patients within several weeks or months after surgery, although some patients do experience permanent incontinence.

In the News>> From the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) as cited by Oncology Nurse Advisor (2/4/2011): Behavioral therapy helps reduce urinary incontinence by 55% in men who had the condition for at least 1 year following radical prostatectomy. Read more>>

Learn More>> Frequently Asked Questions about incontinence after treatment for prostate cancer.

Our Patient Navigator, Renee Sevy-Hasterok, coordinates access to all programs and services offered by the Prostate Cancer Center and its members. You may contact her at (678) 843-5665 or renee.sevy@emoryhealthcare.org

Information on this page is provided collaboratively by the team at the Prostate Cancer Center at Saint Joseph's and has been medically reviewed by Rajesh G. Laungani, MD, 2010. Claims regarding treatment are based on years of clinical experience and industry reported data. The PCC follows American Urological Association and  National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Practice Guidelines for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Last Updated: February 14, 2011 (RSH)