Abiraterone acetate and docetaxel with androgen deprivation therapy in high risk and metastatic hormone naive prostate cancer

This study aimed to find out if androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is more effective used with docetaxel (Taxotere) or abiraterone (Zytiga). There was no significant difference found between the two treatment options. 

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a treatment used for advanced prostate cancer (spread outside of the prostate). It is used to decrease the amount of hormones in the body, including testosterone. Docetaxel or abiraterone can be added to ADT for patients who have not taken hormonal treatment before. Docetaxol is a chemotherapy medication and abiraterone is a hormonal medication.

It is unclear which of these medications, used with ADT, is the better option.

This study included 6067 patients from five different trials. Patients received docetaxel with ADT (19.5%), abiraterone with ADT (25.7%) or ADT alone (54.9%). These treatments were evaluated using overall survival (time from treatment until death from any cause). 

There was no significant difference between docetaxol and abiraterone in terms of overall survival. ADT alone was associated with a poorer overall survival. 

This study found no significant difference in overall survival between abiraterone and docetaxel, both given with ADT. 

These studies did not directly compare the investigated treatments. While steps were made to address this, direct comparison is better evidence. Treatment side-effects in the five studies were not analyzed.