Docetaxel chemotherapy for Chinese patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer

Objective To determine the effectiveness and toxicity of docetaxel for Chinese patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer in a local Hong Kong hospital. Design Case series. Setting A tertiary cancer centre in Hong Kong. Patients In all, 39 castrate-resistant prostate cancer patients were treated with 3-weekly docetaxel at 75 mg/m(2) and prednisolone 10 mg daily between January 2006 and December 2011 in Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Main outcome measures Prostate-specific antigen control rate, pain control rate, progression-free survival, overall survival, and complication rates. Results The prostate-specific antigen response rate was 36%, and 27(69%) of the patients had improved pain control after chemotherapy. The median progression-free survival, cancer-specific survival, and overall survival was 7.8 (95% confidence interval, 4.9-10.8) months, 13.0 (95% confidence interval, 9.6-16.3) months, and 12.2 (95% confidence interval, 9.3-15.1) months, respectively. The grade 3 anaemia and thrombocytopenia rates were 5%, and the neutropenic fever rate was 8%. Conclusions Chemotherapy with docetaxel at a dose of 75 mg/m(2) given once every 3 weeks together with daily prednisolone is well tolerated in Chinese and can offer good symptom palliation in suitable patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer.