( ASCO Oral Presentation Reports Signific...)Updated Study Results Reinforce Survival Benefit of Taxotere,(Docetaxel) for Men with Advanced, Hormone-Resistant Prostate,Cancer,Health

CHICAGO, June 04, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Taxotere(R) (docetaxel) Injection Concentrate-based chemotherapy (Taxotere plus prednisone) maintained long-term efficacy as a treatment for advanced (metastatic) hormone-resistant prostate cancer patients, according to the three-year updated results of the landmark TAX 327 study. Results of the international multi-center phase III trial were reported in an oral presentation at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

The TAX 327 data show that among patients with metastatic hormone- resistant prostate cancer, significantly more of those treated with Taxotere(R) 75mg/m2 combined with prednisone 5 mg once every three weeks survived at least three years, than those treated with anti-cancer antibiotic mitoxantrone combined with prednisone. Patients treated with the Taxotere(R) regimen lived a median of three months longer (19.3 months versus 16.3 months, p=0.006) and had a 21% lower risk of dying (HR=17.6-21.3). These results are consistent with results published in 2004 in the New England Journal of Medicine and document the maintenance of the survival benefit previously reported in patients treated with the Taxotere-based therapy.

"The results confirm docetaxel's survival benefit in patients with metastatic hormone resistant prostate cancer," said study author Dominik R. Berthold, Department of Medical Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada. "Prolonged survival is extremely important for these patients and docetaxel is the only chemotherapeutic agent to demonstrate a survival benefit in this setting."

Original TAX 327 Analysis Showed Improved Survival

The TAX 327 study was initiated in 2000 to evaluate long-term survival among men with metastatic h
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