Docetaxel, Radiation Therapy, and Prednisone in Treating Patients Who Have Undergone Surgery For Prostate Cancer

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel and prednisone, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Docetaxel may make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. Giving docetaxel together with radiation therapy and prednisone after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving docetaxel together with radiation therapy and prednisone works in treating patients who have undergone surgery for prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Determine the rate of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decline and the number of patients reaching a PSA nadir of zero after treatment with chemoradiotherapy comprising docetaxel and external-beam radiotherapy followed by docetaxel and prednisone in patients with hormone-naive prostate cancer who have a persistent or rising PSA after radical prostatectomy. Secondary * Determine the tolerability of this regimen in these patients. * Determine the progression-free survival, based on PSA progression, of these patients. * Determine the overall survival of patients treated with chemoradiotherapy for rising PSA after radical prostatectomy. * Determine if the velocity of subsequent PSA failure impacts survival of these patients. Tertiary * Document subsequent therapy for patients whose previous treatment has failed and if there is a response to that therapy. Quaternary: To collect data on a contemporary cohort to those on study that received radiation alone. We will match cancer and patient characteristics to determine if the variable of chemotherapy has any impact on outcomes. OUTLINE: Patients receive docetaxel IV over 1 hour on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, and 43 and undergo external-beam radiotherapy on days 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 22-26, 29-33, 36-40, and 43-47. Beginning within 6 weeks after completion of chemoradiotherapy, patients receive docetaxel IV over 1 hour on day 1 and oral prednisone twice daily on days 1-21. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed at 1 month, every 4 months for 2 years, and then every 6 months for 3 years. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 50 patients will be accrued for this study.