cancer and hormone therapy :- What hormone therapy is ?

What hormones are

Hormones are natural substances made by glands in our bodies. The network of glands that make hormones is called the endocrine system. Hormones are carried in our bloodstream and act as messengers between one part of our body and another. They control the growth and activity of certain cells and organs.

What hormone therapy is

Hormone treatments use the sex hormones produced by our bodies, or drugs that block them, to treat cancer. Not all cancers respond to hormone therapy. Doctors might use hormone therapy for people with cancers that are ‘hormone sensitive’ or ‘hormone dependent’. This means that the cancer needs the hormone to grow. Cancers that can be hormone sensitive are

How hormone therapy works

Cancers that are hormone sensitive or hormone dependent need hormones to grow. So stopping the hormone reaching the cancer cells may either slow down or stop the growth of the cancer. Hormone therapies can work by either

• Stopping hormones being made
• Preventing the hormone reaching the cancer cell

Types of hormone therapy

There are a number of different types of hormone therapy. Which one you have depends on a number of factors, including your type of cancer. There is information below on


What hormone therapy is
Hormone treatments use the sex hormones produced by our bodies, or drugs that block them, to treat cancer. Not all cancers respond to hormone therapy. Doctors might use hormone therapy for people with cancers that are ‘hormone sensitive’ or ‘hormone dependent’. This means that the cancer needs the hormone to grow. Cancers that can be hormone sensitive are

Breast cancer
Prostate cancer
Womb cancer (uterine)
How hormone therapy works
Cancers that are hormone sensitive or hormone dependent need hormones to grow. So stopping the hormone reaching the cancer cells may either slow down or stop the growth of the cancer. Hormone therapies can work by either

Stopping hormones being made
Preventing the hormone reaching the cancer cell
Types of hormone therapy
There are a number of different types of hormone therapy. Which one you have depends on a number of factors, including your type of cancer. There is information below on

Breast cancer hormone therapy
Prostate cancer hormone therapy
Womb cancer hormone therapy
Breast cancer hormone therapy
The female hormones oestrogen and progesterone affect some breast cancers. Doctors say these cancers are either oestrogen receptor positive or progesterone receptor positive, or both. Hormone treatment for breast cancer works by stopping these hormones getting to the breast cancer cells. There are different types of hormone therapies that doctors use to treat breast cancer

Tamoxifen
Aromatase inhibitors
Pituitary down regulators
Tamoxifen
Tamoxifen is one of the most common hormone therapies used for breast cancer. Both pre and postmenopausal women can take tamoxifen. It works by stopping the hormone oestrogen from reaching cancer cells.

Aromatase inhibitors
These are a relatively new type of hormone therapy. You can only take them if you have been through the menopause. After menopause, your ovaries stop producing oestrogen. But your body still makes a small amount by changing other hormones (called androgens) into oestrogen. You need an enzyme called aromatase to make this change happen. Aromatase inhibitors block this enzyme so it can’t convert androgen into oestrogen.

There are a few different types of aromatase inhibitor, including

Anastrozole (Arimidex®)
Exemestane (Aromasin®)
Letrozole (Femara®)
Pituitary down regulators
A gland in the brain, called the pituitary gland, controls the amount of sex hormones made by the ovaries. Pituitary down regulators are drugs that prevent the ovaries making oestrogen or progesterone. They do this by blocking the signal from the pituitary gland to the ovaries.

You will only have this treatment if you haven’t yet had your menopause. After menopause, your ovaries don’t produce hormones so this type of drug won’t help. Pituitary down regulators include goserelin for breast cancer (Zoladex) and leuprorelin.

Prostate cancer hormone therapy
Prostate cancer depends on the male hormone testosterone for its growth. Hormone therapy aims to reduce or stop the body making testosterone and slow down or stop the growth of the cancer. There are different types of hormone therapy

Pituitary down regulators
Anti-androgens
Pituitary down regulators
A gland in the brain, called the pituitary gland, controls the amount of testosterone made by the testicles. Pituitary down regulators are drugs that prevent the testicles making testosterone. They do this by blocking the signal from the pituitary gland to the testicles.

Pituitary down regulators include

Goserelin for prostate cancer (Zoladex)
Leuprorelin (Prostap)
Triptorelin (Decapetyl)
Anti-androgens
Prostate cancer cells have receptors on them that take up testosterone. Anti-androgen drugs work by attaching themselves to these receptors. This stops the testosterone reaching the prostate cancer cell. There are a few different types including

Bicalutamide (Casodex)
Cyproterone acetate (Cyprostat)
Flutamide (Drogenil)
Womb cancer hormone therapy
The female hormones oestrogen and progesterone affect the growth and activity of the cells that line the womb. Doctors give the hormone progesterone to help shrink larger womb cancers, or to treat womb cancers that have come back. There are different types of progesterone treatment, including medroxyprogesterone acetate (Provera) or megestrol (Megace).