Neoadjuvant Docetaxel on Newly Diagnosed Intermediate and High Grade Cancer of the Prostate

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the rate of a 3-month prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decline of at least 30% by chemotherapy regimen of docetaxel and prednisone in patients with stage I/II prostate cancer, who are scheduled for prostatectomy. II. To compare tumor, pathological and PSA responses to neoadjuvant docetaxel between patients with intermediate and high grades of prostate cancer. III. To obtain prostate specimens for genomic correlates with responses of the chemotherapy regimen of docetaxel and prednisone. OUTLINE: Patients receive docetaxel intravenously (IV) over 60 minutes on days 1 and 2 and prednisone orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-21. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 3 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients undergo prostatectomy within 3 weeks after completion of chemotherapy. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up within 7 days.