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Intermittent chemotherapy in metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer
T M Beer1, M Garzotto, W D Henner
1Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Mail Code L586, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA. beert@ohsu.edu
Abstract:
Intermittent use of chemotherapy for androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC) instead of treatment until disease progression may reduce toxicity. We prospectively tested this approach in eight AIPC patients responding to calcitriol plus docetaxel who reached a serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) <4 ng ml(-1). Chemotherapy was suspended until a rise in PSA>/=50% and 1 ng ml(-1). The median duration of treatment holiday was 20 weeks (13-43+weeks) and all patients retained sensitivity to re-treatment. Chemotherapy holiday was associated with an improvement of fatigue (P=0.05). Intermittent chemotherapy for AIPC is feasible and deserves further study.