I'm not a doctor or any kind of expert.  My admittedly inexpert
and superficial opinion is that there are some good reasons to be
in this trial and some good reasons not to.  Which reasons apply
to you, only you can say.

----- Here are the reasons I can think of for it:

There is apparently some evidence that hormone therapy is more
effective when given early.  As I understand it, men who get HT
early live longer than men who wait.  Not all doctors agree with
that, but there are many that do and there are some significant
studies that support it.

It is conceivable that chemotherapy plus hormone therapy will
kill off very large amounts of cancer, perhaps giving you extra
years of life, perhaps giving many extra years.  I don't know.
Clearly, no one knows for sure or else there wouldn't be this
trial.

Even if you are assigned to the arm that does not receive chemo,
the odds are good that the HT alone will keep the cancer from
progressing much during the 18 months of the trial.  At the end
of that time, if it looks like the chemo was doing some good, you
could ask for it and perhaps be in just as good, or almost as
good, a position to benefit from it as at the start of the trial.
You need to ask the trial adminstrators whether you will be
offered chemo at the end of the 18 months if you are in arm B and
arm A is successful.

Participation in a clinical trial often gives you access to a
higher level of expertise, and more sophisticated testing, than
most men get via their regular insurers.

----- And here are the reasons I can think of against it:

If your PSA is rising slowly, it is possible that you could go
for years without needing any therapy at all.  During that
period, you will not suffer any of the side effects of HT, which
can be significant.  There will also be no side effects of chemo.

Some doctors, including the well regarded Dr. Walsh of Hopkins,
believe there is little or no benefit of early HT as compared to
late HT.

It is conceivable that you will last long enough without
treatment that some new, more effective and/or less deleterious
treatment than the ones available today will become available.

-----

Unfortunately, either decision involves risks and unknowns.

Your rad onc knows more than I do and is in favor of aggressive
treatment.  That's a point for it.  Seeing another expert whom
you already know to be good for a second opinion also seems like
an excellent idea.

Lots of us have experience with leuprolide (Lupron, Zoladex,
etc.) and bicalutamide (Casodex).

They suppress testosterone, which has more effects on the body
and the mind than one might think.  If you search the net for
information on "hormone therapy" or "androgen deprivation
therapy" for prostate cancer and "side effects", you'll find a
lot.  There's also a lot in the archives of this newsgroup.

Initially, the drugs have very little visible effect.  But after
a month on leuprolide, you will find a great drop in libido, some
loss of energy, hot flushes, possible gain of weight, possible
depression, and possibly other symptoms.  After a while, there
may also be joint pain and other side effects.  There are ways to
fight against all of these side effects and, it is my experience,
that you have to fight them.  A depressive reaction is no good.

Most of the men offered chemotherapy have been offered it only in
the last months of their lives.  Traditionally, it has not been
given until HT is exhausted and symptoms are developing strongly.

The experience of such men may not be a good guide for what a
relatively healthy young man can expect.  However, you should
be able to find some information on the net, and there may be
others in the newsgroup who can offer advice.

You are relatively young to have to go through all this.  I'm
sorry that it's happening to you.

I have not (yet at least) failed my primary radiation treatment.
For what it's worth, if I do and am in the same position as you,
I _think_ (I don't know for sure what I would do until I have to
make the choice for real), I would go for the aggressive
treatment.  To me, life is very precious.  Hot flushes, reduced
energy, even total loss of libido (it's a strange sensation to
look at a beautiful woman and feel no physical response) are a
price I am willing to pay for extra years of life.

Whatever you do, keep up your spirits.  There is a huge amount to
live for.  Cancer limits our lives, but it can also reveal to us
how precious it is.

Best of luck.

   Alan

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CORRECTION PSA MUST BE GREATER THAN 1.0 FOR PARTICIPATION IN STUDY.