Results of trials of the USA National Prostatic Cancer Project

In summary, the completed NPCP clinical trials have demonstrated that treatment with single antitumor agents and some combinations provide potential benefit to men with metastatic disease, both in those who have failed conventional hormonal therapy as well as those with newly diagnosed metastatic lesions. A summary of overall objective response rates in trials conducted on hormone-refractory patients is shown in Tables 17 and 18. In addition to demonstrating that chemotherapy can elicit a favorable response in patients with relapsing stage D disease, the NPCP has demonstrated that patients who respond to chemotherapy survive significantly longer than nonresponders. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated in these patients that objective partial regressions have been seen only with chemotherapy. Active single agents in prostatic cancer include methotrexate, cis-platinum, Estracyt, cyclophosphamide, 5-FU, DTIC, and streptozotocin. Finally, there may be some benefit in terms of response rate and survival when adding chemotherapy to conventional hormone therapy in patients with previously untreated stage D disease.