Is chemotherapy helpful in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer?
Question: I am in a lot of pain from hormone-refractory prostate cancer. My oncologist wants me to go on chemotherapy. Will it help me live longer? Answer: Until the last few years, single-agent chemotherapy has never been shown to prolong survival time in cases of hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer. Recently, however, Taxotere® (docetaxel) and low-dose prednisone have been shown in two large randomized controlled trials to improve overall survival time and decrease bone pain. A recent update of a randomized trial comparing either weekly or every 3 weeks of docetaxel to mitoxantrone and prednisone demonstrated a superior 3-year survival time for every 3 weeks of docetaxel compared to mitoxantrone.
