Men with metastatic prostate cancer have a new treatment option that is likely to improve survival. Investigators reported on a study of nearly 800 men diagnosed with testosterone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer. Half were randomized to receive the chemotherapy drug docetaxel, also known as Taxotere. The other half received placebo. All the men in the study received therapy to suppress production of male hormones.
Those who also received docetaxel had an overall median survival advantage of more than 13 months. In the world of prostate cancer treatment, this is a substantial improvement. The study produced such promising results that it was stopped prematurely.
[American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, June 1, 2014]
You can learn more about prostate cancer research from the hour-long interview we conducted last year with leading investigator-clinicians.