Hormonal Therapy

Hormonal Therapy

Hormonal therapy or Hormone therapy is the use of hormones in treatment. Also, the treatment with hormone antagonists referred to as antihormone therapy or hormonal therapy. Most of the general classes of hormone therapy are hormone replacement therapy and oncologic hormone therapy, of which there are different kinds.

Hormonal therapy medicines are a systemic (whole-body) treatment for hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers. They are like ears on the breast cells that can listen to signals from hormones. These signals will turn on the growth of cells that have receptors. Most of the breast cancers are hormone-receptor-positive.

Almost 80% of breast cancers are estrogen-receptor positive. Almost 65% of estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers and progesterone-receptor-positive. Almost 13% of breast cancers are estrogen-receptor-positive and also progesterone-receptor-negative. Almost 2% of breast cancers are estrogen-receptor-negative as well as progesterone-receptor-positive.

In addition, if cancer has receptors for estrogen or progesterone, then it is considered as hormone-receptor-positive.

There are 3 different types of hormonal therapy medicines:

Aromatase inhibitors SERMs (selective estrogen receptor modulators) ERDs (estrogen receptor downregulation)

Hormonal therapy medicines can lower the risk of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, help slow or shrink the growth of advanced-stage or the metastatic hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers

Hormonal therapy medicines treat in a couple of ways: Lowers the amount of the hormone estrogen in the body Blocks the action of estrogen in the body