Hormone Therapy
What is 'hormone therapy'?
Hormonal therapy is a type of therapy we utilize as oncologists in several different types of malignancies. I think the most common condition that we use hormonal therapy is in the treatment of breast cancer. Whether it is to prevent breast cancer from occurring as a chemo-preventative type of therapy, to the prevention of recurrence of the disease after patience have been treated with chemotherapy or radiation. When we talk about hormonal therapy, we talk about blocking hormones. So in breast cancer we block estrogen. Whether it be with the drug Tomoxophyn or Roloxophyn or the newer agents like the aroma taste inhibitors, Phemara, Arymadex, Aromasin, and Vasledex. All those treatments aim to block hormones. And certain cancers grow in the face of hormones. Breast cancers as I mentioned, grow in the face of hormones. Prostate cancer, a disease that grows in the face of androgens or male sex hormones. We have agents there to block male sex hormones, so treatment of prostate cancer is used utilizing a hormone blockade. So breast cancer and prostate cancer are the landmark type of diseases and malignancies that are treated with anti-hormonal therapy.
Can hormone therapy fight and cure cancer?
Does hormonal therapy cure or help fight cancer? I think that is true; I think we utilize antihormonal therapy. I think it's important to mention that it's not necessarily treating with hormones, but blocking hormones with agents that block these hormones from being present or being made in the body. They all work to fight cancer; whether it is prostate cancer or breast cancer, they are there to prevent growth of tumor cells. The bigger question is, do they kill tumor cells or do they just prevent them from growing. I think the majority of people believe that hormonal therapy is a static therapy. When I say "static," I mean that it keeps cells where they are but it doesn't necessarily destroy them; and it keeps them from growing. So in terms of curing, I think we're pretty far away from hormone therapy, or antihormonal therapy—curing cancer, but we're there in terms of helping fight cancer. When it comes to metastatic breast cancer, where we use antihormone therapy a lot, we are able to extend women's' lives for over two to three years just with antihormonal therapy alone, without the option or necessity to proceed with chemotherapy in a select group of patients.
