For men, the most common sexual complaint after cancer treatment is the inability to get a serviceable erection. It's a distressing problem, but at least it's less common than it once was. In the old days, surgery for prostate cancer caused impotence about 80 percent of the time; nowadays, nerve-sparing versions of the old operation may result in impotence less than half the time.

Also, a new generation of hormonal drugs for prostate cancer (called nonsteroidal antiandrogens) is less likely: to cause impotence than the old drugs. And even if treatment does result in impotence, there are a whole variety of promising new options available from inflatable implants to injectable drugs-that may help restore functioning. (For more, see "Erection Problems.")