AT the ASCO annual meeting 2015
CHICAGO (FRONTLINE MEDICAL NEWS) – Adding docetaxel chemotherapy to standard management improved survival in men with high-risk, localized, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, results from the phase III RTOG 0521 study show.
At 4 years, overall survival was 89% without docetaxel and 93% with the addition of docetaxel ( Toxotere ) and prednisone after completing radiotherapy and long-term hormonal suppression (Hazard ratio, 0.70; P = .04).
“For the first time, improvement in overall survival was observed with adjuvant chemotherapy for localized, high-risk, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer,” Dr. Howard Sandler said in a press conference in advance of the formal presentation of the late-breaking study at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The implications of the study are clinically relevant and wide-ranging, particularly in patients with high-risk disease, press briefing moderator Dr. Don Dizon , commented.
Dr. Sandler , chair of radiation oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, gives details of this practice-changing study in a video interview .
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Sandler reported financial relationships with several firms including Sanofi Aventis, maker of docetaxel.
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