Table 1. General patient characteristics (all eligible patients).

	EMP & VBL	EMP alone
n=	45	45
New mets within the last 4 weeks	38 (82.4%)	35 (77.8%)
Deterioration of performance status, pain or weight loss	36 (80.0%)	37 (82.2%)
WHO performance status
0	7 (15.6%)	8 (17.8%)
1	28 (62.2%)	29 (64.4%)
2	10 (22.2%)	8 (17.8%)
Degree of pain from metastases
None	7 (15.6%)	7 (15.6%)
Mild	15 (33.3%)	11 (24.4%)
Moderate	11 (24.4%)	15 (33.3%)
Severe	11 (24.4%)	11 (24.4%)
Intractable	1 (2.2%)	—
Unspecified	—	1 (2.2%)
Recent weight loss >5 kg	8 (17.8%)	6 (13.3%)
Bone mets at entry
None	4 (8.9%)	3 (6.7%)
<5	4 (8.9%)	11 (24.4%)
5–15	19 (42.2%)	13 (28.9%)
>15 superscan	18 (40.0%)	18 (40.4%)
Visceral mets	12 (26.7%)	13 (28.9%)
Pretreatment PSA
2.5–10 × normal	10 (22.2%)	13 (28.9%)
10–25 × normal	11 (24.4%)	7 (15.6%)
25–100 × normal	9 (20.0%)	14 (31.1%)
100–1000 × normal	15 (33.3%)	11 (24.4%)
Type of previous hormonal treatment
LHRH agonists	28 (62.2%)	25 (55.6%)
Orchiectomy	18 (40.0%)	22 (48.9%)
Oestrogens	4 (8.9%)	—
MAB	12 (26.7%)	12 (26.7%)
Antiandrogens	27 (60.0%)	21 (46.7%)
Other	3 (6.7%)	2 (4.4%)
Time since the first histological confirmation of prostate cancer
Minimum	0.5 years	0.4 years
Median	2.6 years	2.7 years
Maximum	10.7 years	13.2 years