How You Get Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer

Your doctor may use more than one type of hormone treatment. The two main methods of hormone treatment are medical and surgical.

• Medical. For this type of treatment, you take a drug. The drug stops hormones from causing the cancer to grow. Most of these drugs are pills. Sometimes they are given in a shot. There are two main types of hormone treatment drugs. One is selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). The other is aromatase inhibitors. Another type of therapy is LH-Rh agonists. All of these drugs work in different ways.

• Surgical. In this treatment, an organ that makes the hormone estrogen is taken out or made to stop working. This stops the cancer from getting the estrogen it needs to grow. For example, if you’re still having menstrual periods, the ovaries are your main source of estrogen. Your doctor may take them out to stop the production of estrogen. That, in turn, slows the growth of breast cancer. Another option is to use radiation to make the ovaries inactive.