Treating men with advanced prostate cancer using a two-drug combination may significantly increase survival. Indeed, a Harvard-affiliated medical research team found that patients with advanced prostate cancer treated with a combination of ADT and a chemotherapy drug called docetaxel lived approximately 14-17 months longer than men who started their treatment on ADT alone. These results may potentially transform prostate cancer treatment.

Standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer

Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is the standard treatment for patients whose prostate cancer has spread beyond the prostate gland. It blocks prostate cancer cells from growing by stopping the body’s production of testosterone. This advanced prostate cancer treatment works for a certain period, but eventually the body becomes resistant to it and cancer cells begin to grow and spread once more. At that moment, doctors normally reinforce the treatment by adding a chemotherapy drug called docetaxel.

Increasing survival by using a two-drug combination

Over time, docetaxel has proven to increase survival in patients with advanced prostate cancer. Thus, some scientist began to wonder if survival rate could improve even more for patients who got ADT and docetaxel at the same time.

In order to validate this proposition, a medical team at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology did a research on 790 men with advanced prostate cancer. Patients were divided into two groups. The fist group was given ADT and six cycles of docetaxel over 18 weeks, then ADT alone. The second group initially received the ADT treatment, and then started on docetaxel if their cancer worsened.

The men who got the two-drug combination from the start lived an average of 58 months, compared to 44 months for men who started their treatment only with ADT. Patients with the most advanced cancers seem to benefit the most from the two-drug combination.

It is important to note that the combined treatment is suitable only for patients who are fit to receive chemotherapy. Men who are advanced in age, frail, sick or have a life-threatening condition are not eligible to receive such treatment.

Validating the results

The results of the research were presented at the 2014 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. However, the study has not yet been published in medical journal. Indeed, experts and other scientist need to evaluate the findings. Specialists might potentially consider other therapies that may be less toxic.

For more information concerning the two-drug combination research, contact PROCURE or refer the following sections:  About the disease, Treatments, Questions for my doctor.