The trial included men 18 years of age or older with a histologic or cytologic diagnosis of prostate cancer and documented evidence of disease progression while receiving hormonal therapy. Patients were treated with cycles consisting of G3139 for five days, in combination with Taxotere administered intravenously over 1 hour on the last day of G3139 treatment, with cycles repeated every 21 days.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men.
Androgen depletion from surgical or chemical castration remains the most effective treatment for disseminated prostate cancer. With the therapeutic options presently available, the median survival is only nine months in patients with hormone-refractory disease, and the survival rate is only 25 percent. Treatment options at this stage of illness are extremely limited and include palliative radiotherapy and, in a minority of patients, palliative chemotherapy. In 2000, Taxotere generated sales of over 700 million euros worldwide, and is one of the key growth drivers for Aventis Pharma, the company that manufactures and markets this medicine. In 2000, Aventis generated group sales of 22.3 billion and employed around 92,500 people in its Pharma and Agriculture businesses.