Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 90203: a randomized phase 3 study of radical prostatectomy alone versus estramustine and docetaxel before radical prostatectomy for patients with high-risk localized disease

The purpose of The Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 90203 trial is to determine which of 2 treatment strategies is superior in treating men with high-risk, clinically localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate (stage T1 to T3a NX M0), defined as a predicted probability ≤60% of remaining free from disease recurrence for 5 years after surgery. Patients with a ≥10-year life expectancy will be randomized to either radical prostatectomy (RP) alone versus estramustine and docetaxel before RP. Participants will be excluded if they have received prior therapy for prostate cancer (except transurethral resection of the prostate) or are judged not to be appropriate candidates for RP. Eligible patients will be stratified according to their predicted probability of remaining free from disease recurrence at 5 years after surgery (0% to 20%, 21% to 40%, and 41% to 60%) and randomized. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy will be 6 cycles (1 cycle = 21 days) of estramustine (280 mg tid, days 1 to 5) and docetaxel (70 mg/m 2 on day 2). Warfarin (2 mg/day orally) will be given for prophylaxis against deep venous thrombosis. Bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection and RP will be performed within 60 days of registration/randomization for men randomized to the surgery-alone arm. For men randomized to receive preoperative chemotherapy, the surgical procedure will be performed within 60 days of completion of chemotherapy. Patients will be monitored with history review, physical examination, and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels every 3 months for the first 3 years after surgery, every 6 months for the next 3 years, and annually thereafter. Biochemical disease recurrence will be defined as a serum PSA level >0.4 ng/mL on 2 consecutive occasions ≥3 months apart after RP. The time of biochemical failure is measured from the date of randomization to the time of the first PSA level