Capecitabine and Docetaxel in Treating Patients With Metastatic Prostate Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the prostate
• * Metastatic disease
• * Androgen-independent disease
• Progressive disease, as documented by ≥ 1 of the following criteria:
• * Rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) despite androgen deprivation therapy and anti-androgen withdrawal
• * Demonstrates a rising PSA trend with 2 successive elevations ≥ 1 week apart
• * Measurable disease progression
• * Nonmeasurable disease progression, defined as the following:
• * PSA ≥ 5 ng/mL
• * New areas of bone metastases on bone scan
• Serum testosterone ≤ 0.5 ng/mL (castrate level)
• * Concurrent luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist therapy required for medically castrated patients
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Performance status
• Zubrod 0-2
• Life expectancy
• At least 12 weeks
• Hematopoietic
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/ mm\^3
• Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm\^3
• Hepatic
• Bilirubin normal
• Transaminases meeting 1 of the following criteria:
• * AST and/or ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) if alkaline phosphatase (AP) normal
• * AP ≤ 4 times ULN if AST and/or ALT normal
• Renal
• Creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min OR
• Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL
• Cardiovascular
• No congestive heart failure
• No second- or third-degree heart block
• No myocardial infarction within the past 3 months
• Other
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 6 months after completion of study treatment
• No other malignancy within the past 2 years except adequately treated skin cancer or other cancer in complete remission
• No history of severe hypersensitivity reaction to docetaxel or other drugs formulated with polysorbate 80
• No peripheral neuropathy ≥ grade 2
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Chemotherapy
• No prior chemotherapy for metastatic disease
• Endocrine therapy
• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 4 weeks since prior flutamide
• More than 6 weeks since prior bicalutamide or nilutamide
• Radiotherapy
• At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• Other
• At least 28 days since prior investigational drugs for prostate cancer
• No other concurrent anti-cancer therapy