Hormone therapy is used to treat certain cancers that depend on hormones to grow and spread. Patients who undergo this treatment may use hormone therapy drugs as a form of cancer treatment. These drugs work to reduce the levels of certain hormones, such as estrogen (in women) and testosterone (in men) and prevent cancer from receiving the hormones necessary to grow.

Hormone therapy drugs may be used in both men and women with hormone-sensitive cancers, which include:

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

Cancer patients may be prescribed hormone therapy drugs in combination with other treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Hormone therapy drugs also may be prescribed as treatment following surgery. These drugs are considered an effective way of preventing hormone-receptive cancers from returning and new hormone-receptive cancers from developing.

Hormone therapy drugs can cause side effects, including hot flashes, mood swings and decreased sexual desire.  In addition, some cancers become resistant to the drug and begin to grow again after a period of time.

Hormone therapy drugs are just one form of administering hormone therapy. Surgery (e.g. ovary or testicle removal) and radiation to certain reproductive organs and glands are also types of hormone therapy used to treat certain cancers.