There have been some randomized studies that have shown that when prednisone is used in combination with docetaxel (chemotherapy) there is an improved survival in men who have metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). To add to our understanding of the possible clinical value of this combination of drugs some researchers have retrospectively evaluated whether the co-administration of low-dose glucocorticoids with docetaxel has clinical benefits.

They evaluated the records of 358 men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who were treated  with either docetaxel or docetaxel and prednisone.

They found that the men treated with docetaxel alone had a higher incidence of peripheral edema (grade 3) non-hematological toxicity, and were at an increased risk of being admitted to a hospital because of febrile neutropenia (development of a fever). However, when the survival analysis was evaluated they found that adding the prednisone had no effect on an individual’s survival prognosis.

Adding prednisone should be evaluated and discussed with your doctor as it might affect your quality of life.  However, make sure that you also discuss with your doctor the possible side effects that prednisone could cause you to experience. As I have said many times, all of our treatments come with both good and bad, and anything we put into our mouths comes with a potential cost.

Urologic oncology. 2015 Aug 05 [Epub ahead of print]; Per Kongsted, Inge Marie Svane, Henriette Lindberg, Gedske Daugaard, Lisa Sengeløv

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Low-dose+prednisolone+in+first-line+docetaxel+for+patients+with+metastatic+castration-resistant+prostate+cancer%3A+Is+there+a+clinical+benefit%3F