Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of Docetaxel plus matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor（SB-3CT） on the growth of prostate cancer xenografts and its possible mechanism. Methods The models of PC3 prostate cancer xenografts were developed based on PC-3 cells in nude mice，which were randomly divided into SB-3CT group（injected with SB-3CT solution 25 mg/kg），combination group（SB-3T 25 mg/kg+intravenous Docetaxel 10 mg/kg） and blank control group（injected with equal amount of normal saline ，with 5 nude mice in each group. The tumor volume and mass were measured，and growth curve were plotted. The expression of PDK1 and PFKFB4 were determined using the immunohistochemical staining. Results The combination group， blank control group and SB-3CT group were statistically significant difference in the average tumor volume（F=29.556，P=0.001），the tumor growth in the combination group was significantly slower than that in the blank control group and the SB-3CT group. The immunohistochemical scores showed that the score of PDK1 in the combination group， the blank control group and the SB-3CT group were 2.33±0.47，6.00±0.81 and 4.33±0.48，respectively，with statistically significant differences（F=18.200，P=0.003），and the score in the combination group was lower than that in the SB-3CT group（P=0.017）；the score of PFKFB4 in those three groups were 5.33±0.49，11.33±0.47 and 9.00±1.41，respectively， with statistically significant differences（F=17.643，P=0.003），and the score in the combination group was lower than that in the SB-3CT group（P=0.011）. Conclusion Docetaxel plus matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor SB-3CT can inhibit the growth of prostate cancer xenografts，and the down-regulation of glucose metabolism-related enzymes PDK1 and PFKFB4 is a potential mechanism.

Key words: Prostate cancer, Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, Docetaxel, Xenograft