Docetaxel for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer

Chemotherapy has historically proven toxic and ineffective for the treatment of metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC), a disease with substantial morbidity and mortality. Progress has been made in symptom relief, and the combination of mitoxantrone and prednisone is considered the palliative standard of care. The effects of a variety of chemotherapeutic agents, both alone and in combination, on prostate-specific antigen decline rates, measurable disease response, and survival have been examined in numerous phase I and II trials. Results suggest that combining vinblastine or paclitaxel with estramustine confers a survival advantage over either agent alone. In addition, docetaxel-based therapy has been found to be effective and well tolerated, and phase III trials will soon determine whether docetaxel-based therapy should replace mitoxantrone-based therapy as the standard of care for HRPC.