Docetaxel: New Indication for Prostate Cancer - A Few More Weeks
February 2006
in “
PubMed
”
TLDR Docetaxel slightly extends prostate cancer survival but has significant side effects and high cost.
Docetaxel was approved in Europe for treating hormone-resistant metastatic prostate cancer and demonstrated a modest survival benefit. In a trial with 1006 patients, docetaxel combined with prednisone extended median survival by about 2.5 months compared to mitoxantrone-prednisone. Another trial with 674 patients showed docetaxel with estramustine was more effective than mitoxantrone-prednisone, extending survival by 1.9 months. Despite these benefits, docetaxel's adverse effects, including hair loss and severe reactions in 25% of patients, and its high cost, limited its overall advantage.