[Effective chemotherapy for hormone-refractory prostate cancer: docetaxel-prednisone]

During the past decades, the results of the treatment of patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) have been disappointing. The use of mitoxantrone plus low-dose prednisone has resulted in pain relief in some patients, but there was no impact on survival. Recently, two randomised studies have been published that show that docetaxel-containing chemotherapy, as compared to mitoxantrone, gave better pain relief, more improvement in the quality of life and even prolonged survival. Current best practice for the treatment of HRPC patients now therefore consists of a course of chemotherapy with docetaxel every three weeks, combined with prednisone.