NICE recommends docetaxel for treatment of hormone sensitive prostate cancer.

Randomised controlled trial (RCT) data suggest that docetaxel (formerly Taxotere from Sanofi and now generic) improves overall survival and time to disease progression in men with hormone sensitive metastatic prostate cancer. Two controlled trials found that, compared with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) alone, docetaxel combined with ADT statistically significantly improved overall survival by around 10–15 months in this population. No statistically significant difference was seen between the groups in another, smaller controlled trial. Time to disease progression was statistically significantly longer with docetaxel plus ADT compared with ADT alone in all three controlled trials. These findings are reinforced by a meta-analysis of the trials. The toxicity of docetaxel is well established. However most participants in the trials tolerated the planned number of docetaxel treatment cycles. Regulatory status: Docetaxel is licensed for treating men with hormone-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. Use of docetaxel for treating men with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer is off label.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has now recommended docetaxel as a treatment for men with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.