Hormone Therapy and Docetaxel or Hormone Therapy Alone in Treating Patients With Metastatic Prostate Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically confirmed prostate adenocarcinoma
• * Metastatic disease
• Measurable or evaluable disease
• No brain metastases
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age
• 18 and over
• Performance status
• ECOG 0-2
• Life expectancy
• At least 3 months
• Hematopoietic
• WBC ≥ 2,000/mm\^3
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,000/mm\^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm\^3
• Hepatic
• Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (2.5 times normal if hepatic metastases are present)
• AST and ALT ≤ 1.5 times ULN (2.5 times normal if hepatic metastases are present)
• Renal
• Creatinine ≤ 150 μmol/L
• Cardiovascular
• No symptomatic coronary disease
• No congenital cardiac insufficiency
• No New York Heart Association class III or IV cardiovascular disease
• No other severe cardiovascular disease
• Other
• No severe peripheral neuropathy
• No active infection
• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except basal cell skin cancer
• No familial, social, geographical, or psychological situation that would preclude study compliance and follow-up
• No other serious disease that would preclude study participation
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy
• Not specified
• Chemotherapy
• No prior chemotherapy for metastatic prostate cancer
• Prior chemotherapy allowed provided all of the following are true:
• * Chemotherapy was completed \> 1 year ago
• * Prostate-specific antigen level has remained stable
• * No development of metastases within 1 year after completion of chemotherapy
• Endocrine therapy
• Prior hormonal therapy within the past 2 months allowed for metastatic prostate cancer
• Radiotherapy
• More than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy to metastatic sites
• Surgery
• No prior surgical castration
• Other
• No other concurrent investigational drugs