How the Addition of Hormones Improves Outcome: Hormone Therapy and Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy alone for the treatment of hormone-resistant prostate cancer is associated with very poor objective response rates of less than 10%. No single agent or regimen has thus far shown a consistent impact on survival. As a result, there is no standard regimen and new agents and combinations are continually being investigated. In theory, it may be beneficial to start chemotherapy earlier in the disease, while the patient is still responding to hormonal therapy but when their PSA is already starting to rise.