What is chemotherapy for prostate cancer?

Chemotherapeutic agents, or chemotherapy, are anti-cancer drugs. They are used as a palliative treatment (palliation) in patients with advanced cancer for whom a cure is unattainable. Recall that the goal of palliation is simply to slow the tumor's growth and relieve the patient's symptoms. Chemotherapy is not ordinarily used for organ-confined or locally advanced prostate cancers because a cure in these cases is possible with other treatments. Currently, chemotherapy is used only for advanced metastatic prostate cancers that have failed to respond to other treatments.

Several chemotherapeutic agents have been used effectively to palliate metastatic prostate cancer. One such agent is estramustine (Emcyt). Another agent, mitoxantrone (Novantrone), has been shown to be effective in combination with prednisone for palliating androgen-independent prostate cancer. As mentioned previously, metastatic tumors that have not responded specifically to hormonal herapy are referred to as androgen-independent (hormone-refractory) prostate cancers.

The more common side effects of chemotherapy include weakness, nausea, hair loss, and suppression of the bone marrow. The suppression of marrow, in turn, can decrease the red blood cells (causing anemia), the white blood cells (leading to infections), and the platelets (resulting in bleeding).

New chemotherapeutic agents for prostate cancer are continually being studied for their effectiveness and safety in cancer centers throughout the United States and elsewhere. For example, cancer specialists (oncologists) have been evaluating paclitaxel (Taxol) or docetaxel (Taxotere) for metastatic prostate cancer. (These two drugs are effective in palliating metastatic breast cancer.) Another one of the newer chemotherapeutic agents under investigation for androgen independent prostate cancer is Suramin.

Source wikipedia.org