Rationale for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Study RTOG P-0014

Chemotherapy currently has an established role in the treatment of hormonere-fractory prostate cancer. There is strong evidence that combined-modality treatment, using androgen ablation in addition to radiotherapy, provides a benefit above and beyond radiotherapy alone in patients with a poor prognosis, perhaps due to the effect of androgen ablation on subclinical distant disease. Several clinical trials currently under way are investigating whether the addition of chemotherapy with known efficacy in the hormone-refractory setting can provide a survival advantage when used adjuvantly.