Are hormone replacement therapy and hormonal treatment the same?
No. In fighting breast cancer, hormonal treatment is used to block the effect of estrogen or reduce estrogen levels. The idea is to keep estrogen from reaching cancer cells. Hormone replacement therapy (also called HRT), however, supplies estrogen to women to relieve the symptoms of menopause. Hormonal treatment for breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy for menopause are very different and have different goals.
