Hormone Therapy & Cancer
Hormone Therapy
What are hormones and what is hormone therapy?
"Hormones are proteins or substances made by the body that help to control how certain types of cells work. For example, some parts of the body rely on sex hormones, such as estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone, to function properly. There are other types of hormones in our bodies, too, such as thyroid hormones, cortisol, adrenaline, and insulin. Different types of hormones are made by different organs or glands.
Some cancers depend on hormones to grow. Because of this, treatments that block or alter hormones can sometimes help slow or stop the growth of these cancers. Treating cancer with hormones is called hormone therapy, hormonal therapy, or endocrine therapy. Hormone therapy is mostly used to treat certain kinds of breast cancer and prostate cancer that depend on sex hormones to grow. A few other cancers can be treated with hormone therapy, too." (source)
What does hormone therapy do?
"Hormone therapies change the amount of hormones in your body in different ways. You may have tests to see if a cancer is sensitive to hormones. Your doctor may recommend hormone therapy to:
- Prevent the body from making a hormone
- Change how a hormone acts in the body
- Block a hormone from binding to cancer cells" (source)
How is hormone therapy used to treat cancer?
"Hormone therapy is used along with other types of cancer treatment, such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or surgery. Hormone therapy can also be used alone.
Hormone therapy can be used in different ways at different times. These include:
- Before surgery and/or radiation therapy, to shrink a tumor. This is called neoadjuvant therapy.
- After cancer treatments, to reduce the risk that cancer will come back. This is called adjuvant therapy.
- For cancer that comes back after treatment, called recurrent cancer.
- For cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, called metastatic cancer.
The goal of hormone therapy depends on the type of cancer and how far it has spread. Sometimes, the goal is to keep cancer from coming back after treatment. Or the goal may be to stop or slow cancer growth. Hormone therapy may also be used to help prevent or manage cancer side effects." (source)
Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer
"Hormone therapy for breast cancer is a treatment for breast cancers that are sensitive to hormones. Some forms of hormone therapy for breast cancer work by blocking hormones from attaching to receptors on cancer cells. Other forms work by decreasing the body's production of hormones. Hormone therapy is only used for breast cancers that are found to have receptors for the naturally occurring hormones estrogen or progesterone. Hormone therapy for breast cancer is often used after surgery to reduce the risk that the cancer might return. Hormone therapy also may be used to shrink a cancer before surgery. If the cancer shrinks, it may be possible to remove less breast tissue during surgery. Using hormone therapy before surgery also gives your health care team information about how well your cancer responds to this treatment." (source)
Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer
"Prostate cancer cells depend on hormones such as testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to thrive. Hormone therapy, which is also called androgen deprivation therapy or androgen suppression therapy, for prostate cancer involves depriving the cancer cells of this fuel by either blocking the production or action of androgen hormones. Although hormone therapy plays an important role in treating patients with advancing prostate cancer, it is increasingly being used to treat localized disease as well. It may be used before radiation to help shrink the tumor or along with radiation if there’s a high risk of recurrence following treatment. Because hormone therapy alone does not cure prostate cancer, it is usually used in concert with other treatments." (source)
There is much more in store for this page so please stay tuned. In the meantime, please check out the resource collection at the bottom of the page for more information on hormone therapy for cancer. You can also visit our Newly Diagnosed page for a thorough overview of the early cancer experience.
