Hormone therapy uses certain medications that either act like hormones or block the hormones made by your body. This helps prevent some cancer cells from growing. These medications are not the same as the hormones used for hormone replacement therapy after menopause.
Breast cancer cells may have specialized points called receptors into which the female hormone molecules (estrogen and progesterone) attach. If these receptors are present, the hormones attach to the receptor site and encourage the cancer to grow. These cancers are known as estrogen-receptor-positive and progesterone-receptor-positive.
Hormone therapy may help to prevent cancer cell growth.
- Tamoxifen, Femara, Arimidex and Aromasin are the most common anti-estrogen hormone therapy
- Megace is the most common anti-progesterone hormone therapy
HER-2 is a type of naturally occurring receptor. If there is an overproduction of HER-2 receptors, cells grow and spread faster. These cancers are known as HER-2-receptor-positive. Specific medication such as Herceptin will block the HER-2 receptors and slow the growth of cancer cells.