Results from a recent clinical trial have shown that earlier chemotherapy treatment may lead to improved outcomes for prostate cancer patients initiating long-term hormone therapy.
A paper published in Lancet reported the results of the trial, which tested the effectiveness of the chemotherapy drug docetaxel in patients with prostate cancer earlier in treatment rather than waiting until hormone therapy has stopped working. Also tested was the benefits of earlier use of zoledronic acid treatment, a therapy for reducing the risk of bone complications in patients whose cancer has spread.
Results of the study revealed that patients given docetaxel in addition to standard treatment lived an average of 10 months longer than patients treated only with standard care. However, using zoledronic acid in addition to standard care or zoledronic acid with standard care and docetaxel provided no significant improvement in outcomes.
Patients receiving docetaxel in addition to standard care did report more adverse side effects than those receiving standard care alone, however, and the most common adverse event was neutropenia, which can increase the likelihood of infection. However, after 1 year, there was no significant difference in reported side effects between the two arms, and very few patients had to discontinue their use of docetaxel due to adverse events.
The investigators concluded that docetaxel should be added to standard of care for patients with metastatic prostate cancer and that it should also be considered for men with high-risk prostate cancer that has not spread to other regions of the body, as it may slow the progression of the disease.
