RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE WITH TAXOTERE USED IN THERAPY FOR METASTATIC HORMONE REFRACTORY PROSTATE CANCER: RESULTS OF THE DESCRIPTIVE TANDEM STUDYA

The TANDEM multicenter open-label prospective postregistration study was initiated in 2007 to describe the Russian experience with Taxotere used to treat hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) in routine practice. It enrolled a total of 149 patients; therapeutic effectiveness was analyzed in 135 of them. The mean age of the patients was 61,9±7,9 years; their mean prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level was 273,3 ng/ ml. The patients received a total of 807 chemotherapy cycles; ?d 6 cycles were made in most (73,8%) cases. A ?d 50% reduction was recorded in 47,5% of patients; an effect against pain was noted in 13,3%; an objective effect was observed in 47% of patients with measurable foci. The median time to progression was 10 months (95% confidence interval 9,3 to 15,7). Out of the severe (grade III-IV) and serious adverse reactions, there was grade III neutropenia in 5 (3,4%) cases, grade IV agranulocytosis in 1 (0,7%), and infection (herpes zoster) in 1. One patient died because of bleeding occurring in the lower urinary tract. The presented data support the efficiency of using Taxotere in first-line chemotherapy for metastatic HRPC. However, as compared with the data obtained in the TAX 327 study, there were much fewer adverse events, reflecting the real situation with the recording of the side effects of therapy in routine practice.

hormone refractory prostate cancer, chemotherapy, Taxotere