
Prostate cancer treatment: What to do about urinary By: Chioma Umeha One of the side effects of prostate cancer treatment that especially concerns men is urinary incontinence. As treatments for prostate cancer improve, urinary incontinence will become less common. However, today men should be aware that there are effective ways to alleviate urinary incontinence. Surgery or radiation therapy may irritate the urethra or bladder or damage the urinary sphincter (muscles that contract to prevent urine from flowing out of the bladder). As a result, some degree of urinary incontinence (inability to control bladder function) is common immediately after prostate cancer treatment. For example, urge incontinence (the strong and sudden need to urinate, followed by a bladder contraction and involuntary loss of urine) is common for a few days after catheter removal in men who have undergone transurethral prostatectomy (TURP) for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).