If I decide to take docetaxel and prednisone as my oncologist recommends, how much longer can I expect to live?
The two phase III randomized controlled trials recently published indicate a median of 2 to 2½ months survival time difference over the control arm of mitoxantrone and prednisone. The latter drugs previously were the accepted standard of treatment for hormone-refractory prostate cancer. These drugs were shown to improve quality of life over the prednisone-alone arm, but did not improve survival time. Docetaxel and prednisone are the first chemotherapy combination that has ever been shown to make a survival time difference in metastatic prostate cancer in a phase III trial. Remember, however, that a number of patients can do a lot better than the median.
