Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses powerful medications to kill cancer cells throughout the body. For prostate cancer, chemotherapy is typically reserved for advanced cases where the cancer has become resistant to hormone therapy (castration-resistant prostate cancer) or when the cancer has spread extensively. The most commonly used chemotherapy drug for prostate cancer is docetaxel (Taxotere), often given in combination with prednisone. Cabazitaxel (Jevtana) may be used if docetaxel stops working. Unlike surgery or radiation, chemotherapy is a systemic treatment that can reach cancer cells anywhere in the body. Chemotherapy may also be used earlier in treatment for men with high-volume metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, where it's given alongside hormone therapy to improve outcomes.