Quality of life and pain relief during treatment with calcitriol and docetaxel in symptomatic metastatic androgen-independent prostate carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

The current study evaluated the analgesic activity and impact on quality of life (QOL) of a new chemotherapy regimen of calcitriol and docetaxel in men with androgen-independent prostate carcinoma.

METHODS

Analgesic response was defined as a 2-point reduction on the Present Pain Intensity (PPI) scale (or compete relief if baseline PPI was 1) without an increase in analgesic use or a 50% decrease in analgesic medication use without an increase in pain, maintained for > or = 4 weeks. Pain, pain medication consumption, and QOL (measured by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30) were evaluated every 4 weeks.

RESULTS

Treatment resulted in an analgesic response in 14 of 29 evaluable patients (48%; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 30-67%). The median time to symptomatic progression in the 14 patients who met criteria for analgesic response was 41 weeks (95% CI, 26-56 weeks). Worsening in physical and role functioning, fatigue, appetite, and global health status and improvement in constipation were detected using the QLQ-C30 QOL questionnaire.

CONCLUSIONS

Significant analgesic activity was demonstrated, although worsening in several QOL domains was observed in a patient population with relatively low pain intensity (median PPI, 2).