Overview
Hormone therapy is a cancer treatment that slows or stops the growth of cancer that uses hormones to grow. Hormone therapy is also called hormonal therapy, hormone treatment, or endocrine therapy.
Hormone therapy uses drugs that block hormone production or change the way hormones work. Hormone therapy is used against cancers that use hormones to grow, such as prostate and breast cancer. This technique slows or stops hormone production, which restricts cancer’s ability to grow. It is also known as endocrine therapy.
How Hormone Therapy Works Against Cancer
Hormone therapy is used to:
- Treat cancer. Hormone therapy can lessen the chance that cancer will return or stop or slow its growth.
- Ease cancer symptoms. Hormone therapy may be used to reduce or prevent symptoms in men with prostate cancer who are not able to have surgery or radiation therapy.
Types of Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy falls into two broad groups, those that block the body’s ability to produce hormones and those that interfere with how hormones behave in the body.
Who Receives Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy is used to treat prostate and breast cancers that use hormones to grow. Hormone therapy is most often used along with other cancer treatments. The types of treatment that you need depend on the type of cancer, if it has spread and how far, if it uses hormones to grow, and if you have other health problems.
How Hormone Therapy is Used with other Cancer Treatments
When used with other treatments, hormone therapy can:
- Make a tumor smaller before surgery or radiation therapy. This is called neoadjuvant therapy.
- Lower the risk that cancer will come back after the main treatment. This is called adjuvant therapy.
- Destroy cancer cells that have returned or spread to other parts of your body.
