Randomized trials have clearly demonstrated that when low dose Prednisone (P) is combined with docetaxel chemotherapy (D) to treat prostate cancer there is a survival benefit. What is the role of the prednisone and does it actually provide any additional benefit to the docetaxel treatment itself?
To answer this question a retrospective study was performed that investigated whether the co-administration of low-dose glucocorticoids (P) has any additional clinical benefits over D alone.
The researchers took the records of 358 men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated consecutively with either docetaxel (D) 75mg/m(2) every 3 weeks (n = 124) or D combined with prednisone (P) 10mg daily (n