Time Of Hormone Therapy – OnCare Cancer Treatments Time Of Hormone Therapy

When is hormone therapy given?

Your physician may prescribe hormone therapies before some cancer treatments or after other cancer treatments.

If hormone therapy is given before the primary treatment, it is called neoadjuvant treatment. Neoadjuvant treatments help to kill cancer cells and contribute to the effectiveness of the primary therapy. If hormone therapy is given after the primary cancer treatment, it is called adjuvant treatment. Adjuvant therapy is given to improve the chance of a cure.

With some cancers, patients may be given hormone therapy as soon as cancer is diagnosed, and before any other treatment. It may shrink a tumor or it may halt the advance of the disease. And in some cancer, such as prostate cancer, it is helpful in alleviating the painful and distressing symptoms of advanced disease.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) states that although hormone therapy cannot cure prostate cancer, it will usually shrink or halt the advance of disease, often for years.

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