In a nutshell
The authors aimed to determine whether hormone drugs abiraterone (Zytiga) and enzalutamide (Xtandi) and chemotherapy drug cabazitaxel (Jevtana) improved overall survival (patients who were still alive after treatment) in prostate cancer patients with advanced, hormone-resistant (castration-resistant) prostate cancer.
The authors concluded that a combination of these hormone drugs following chemotherapy increased overall survival.
Some background
Hormone therapy is a common treatment used in prostate cancer. It targets the male sex hormones involved in prostate cancer growth, such as testosterone. Some patients can stop responding to this type of treatment. This is known as hormone-resistant prostate cancer.
Hormone drugs such as arbiraterone and enzalutamide are common drugs used to treat advanced prostate cancer (cancer that has spread out from the prostate). Chemotherapy is another treatment commonly used to treat advanced prostate cancer. Both chemotherapy and hormone therapy can be used in combination to treat advanced prostate cancer.
Methods & findings
The aim of this review was to determine overall survival in hormone-resistant patients whose cancer progressed following treatment with the chemotherapy docetaxel (Taxotere). Thirteen studies, including 1016 patients, were reviewed. In each study, patients received hormone therapy alone (group 1, 469 patients), hormone therapy followed by chemotherapy (group 2, 318 patients) or chemotherapy followed by hormone therapy (group 3, 229 patients).
After 12 months, overall survival was 28.5% in group 1, 61.3% in group 2 and 76.4% in group 3. Factors such as age, tumor stage, cancer stage and growth and Gleason score (staging system that compares normal cells to cancer cells) did not influence overall survival.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that chemotherapy followed by hormone therapy improved overall survival in patients with advanced prostate cancer.
What’s next?
Published By :
Critical reviews in oncology/hematology
Date :
Dec 01, 2015
