Docetaxel, Radiation Therapy, and Prednisone 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.