What are hormonal treatments?
Hormonal treatments target the hormones (or hormone receptors) that can effect the growth of breast cancer cells. Most of the hormonal therapies target estrogen which is known to promote the growth of breast cancer cells in tumors that are estrogen receptor positive (ER+). Hormone therapy is given either as an individual treatment or in conjunction with other treatments i.e. surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. These treatments can be helpful in a number of ways: before surgery to shrink cancer, after treatment to prevent recurrence, or after a recurrence to again shrink cancer or keep it under control.
