Hormone therapy for cancer

How does hormone therapy work?

Hormones are an important part of how your body functions. They affect everything from your sleep to your metabolism.

Some cancers use hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, to grow and spread in the body. When a cancer is hormone sensitive, hormone therapy can stop or slow the cancer’s growth by targeting the hormone source.

Along with other cancer treatments, hormone therapy helps:

• Reduce the chance cancer will return
• Shrink cancer cells before surgery or radiation therapy
• Slow or stop the growth of cancer that has spread to other parts of the body
• Decrease the risk of cancer developing in other parts of the body

Hormone therapy also helps ease or reduce cancer symptoms – such as a large, painful tumor – when other treatments like radiation therapy or surgery aren’t possible.

Types of hormone therapy

Our dedicated cancer care team will work closely with you to customize a treatment plan that works best for you. Hormone therapy includes three types of treatment methods to disrupt the growth of hormone-fueled cancer cells:

• Synthetic hormones that prevent the body from producing natural hormones
• Medications that stop cancer cells from using hormones to grow
• Surgery to remove the gland that makes the hormone

The type of hormone therapy depends on the type of cancer and if it’s spread. Hormone therapy drugs may involve taking oral medications or injections of hormones. Hormone therapy surgery may include removing the ovaries or testicles.

Types of cancer hormone therapy treats
Hormone therapy is used to treat hormone-sensitive cancers. This includes cancers that respond to the hormones estrogen or progesterone:

• Breast cancer
  
• Ovarian cancer
  
• Prostate cancer
  
• Uterine cancer

Tests can show if a cancer cell is sensitive to hormones and would respond to hormone therapy.

Hormone therapy treatments for hormone-sensitive cancers