email article Perioperative treatment to preserve nerve function did not significantly improve erectile function after surgery for prostate cancer, a randomized, placebo-controlled study showed. Six months after radical prostatectomy, patients treated with erythropoietin (EPO) or placebo had similar scores on a validated scale of erectile function. In fact, the median score favored the placebo group (19 vs 14). Investigators also found no significant difference between groups at 3, 9, and 12 months. Adjustment for nerve-sparing surgery, which was associated with recovery of erectile function, had minimal effect on analyses of primary and secondary endpoints. The EPO group had significantly higher hemoglobin levels during treatment, consistent with administration of EPO, reported Hiten D. Patel, MD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, and co-authors in the