Shifting paradigms in prostate cancer; docetaxel plus low-dose prednisone - finally an effective chemotherapy

Until now, the use of systemic chemotherapy for advanced androgen-independent prostate cancer has had very little to offer to patients. However, in 2004, two large randomised trials investigating docetaxel vs. mitoxantrone have both demonstrated survival improvements, and, in one of the trails, improvements in important secondary clinical outcome measures such as pain relief and quality of life measurements. In this current perspective, these two trials are summarised and discussed. It is concluded that, docetaxel every 3 weeks plus low-dose prednisone can be considered standard treatment for patients with androgen-independent disease.