This study investigated the impact of treatment intensification with upfront docetaxel (DOC) or abiraterone (ABI) plus prednisolone on survival outcomes in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) by comparing it with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) monotherapy or combined androgen blockade (CAB) using propensity score matching (PSM).
Outcomes from 278 CHAARTED high-volume patients receiving upfront DOC (92 patients) or upfront ABI (186 patients) were compared to those from 354 patients receiving ADT or CAB. PSM was conducted to assess castration-resistant prostate cancer-free survival (CRPCFS) and overall survival (OS).
After PSM, patient distributions between the three groups were well balanced. After 1:1 PSM, patients receiving upfront ABI had significantly better CRPCFS than those receiving ADT/CAB or upfront DOC [hazard ratio (HR) 0.39; 95% CI 0.27-0.56 vs. HR 0.50; 95% CI 0.30-0.82, respectively]. No significant difference in CRPCFS was observed between the upfront DOC and ADT/CAB groups (HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.50-1.12). Patients receiving upfront DOC and upfront ABI had significantly better OS than those receiving ADT/CAB (HR 0.54; 95% CI 0.0.30-0.98 vs. HR 0.49; 95% CI 0.29-0.84, respectively). However, no significant difference in OS was observed between upfront ABI and upfront DOC (hazard ratio 0.84; 95% CI 0.34-2.06).
The comparison of real-world retrospective cohorts showed that treatment intensification with upfront DOC or upfront ABI promoted better OS compared to ADT alone or CAB in patients with high-volume mCSPC after PSM. However, no difference in OS was observed between upfront DOC and upfront ABI.

© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.