Chemotherapy: is it effective in treatment of prostatic cancer?

The National Prostatic Cancer Project and other cooperative groups have shown chemotherapy to be effective in the treatment of prostatic cancer when either a single antitumor agent or combinations of agents are administered. Growing evidence is available to support the premise that combining antitumor and hormonal therapy as initial treatment for metastatic disease may be more effective than delaying such therapy until the patient becomes refractory to hormones. Current results and ongoing protocols utilizing cytotoxic agents are reviewed.