Chicago, IL – A study shows that a cheap, decades-old chemotherapy drug extended life by more than a year when added to standard hormone therapy for men with prostate cancer that has spread.
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It’s one of the biggest improvements in survival ever seen in an advanced cancer in adults.
Men who received the drug docetaxel (doe-suh-TAX-uhl) lived nearly 58 months versus 44 months for those not given the drug in the study, which was sponsored by the federal government.
The results were discussed Sunday at a meeting of more than 30,000 cancer specialists in Chicago.
Doctors say it shows the importance of testing older medicines now available in generic form. This one costs about $1,500 per treatment, far less than many newer drugs.