title: Low dose of interferon-α improves the clinical outcomes of docetaxel in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: A pilot study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to test whether a low dose of interferon-α-2b (IFN-α2b) enhances the clinical outcome of docetaxel (DXT) in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). A prospective controlled trial of 40 CRPC patients receiving 5 mg of prednisone twice daily was conducted, where patients were randomly assigned to be administered 75 mg/m2DXT plus 3 mIU/m2IFN-α2b (group A, n=20) or 75 mg/m2DXT alone (group B, n=20). The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response, tumor response, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. There was no statistically significant difference in PSA response rate between groups A and B (65 vs. 47.4%, P=0.341). The tumor response rate in group A was significantly greater compared with that in group B (55 vs. 21.1%, P=0.048). The median PFS was longer in group A compared with that in group B (10 vs. 8 months, P=0.043). There was no statistically significant difference in median OS between the two groups (19 vs. 17 months, P=0.348), but one patient displayed a complete tumor response in group A. In groups A and B, transient grade 3 to 4 neutropenia was observed in nine and six patients, grade 3 to 4 anemia was observed in three and five patients, and grade 3 to 4 general fatigue was observed in four and one patient(s), respectively. The proportion of patients with grade 3 to 4 toxicity was not statistically different between the two groups. A low dosage of IFN-α2b may improve the antitumor activity of DXT with an acceptable toxicity profile in patients with CRPC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, First Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China ; Department of Urology, First Hospital of Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832008, P.R. China ; Department of Urology, Renmin Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei 442000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yun-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, First Hospital of Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qin-Zhang
authors.initials: QZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, First Hospital of Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832008, P.R. China ; Department of Urology, Renmin Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei 442000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tao-Tao
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, First Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, First Hospital of Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jiang-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, First Hospital of Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guo-Fu
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, First Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: DA-Lin
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: He
keywords: castration-resistant prostate cancer; docetaxel; interferon-α-2b