In Hormone Therapy, hormones are manipulated in such a way to help destroy or control cancerous cells. In this therapy, the level of hormones is either reduced or increased which hampers cancerous cells from growing and kills them.

Some tumors, especially breast and prostrate cancer, are dependent on hormones like estrogen and testosterone for their growth. So if the supply of these hormones is reduced, it would prevent cancerous cells from growing and lead to shrinking of tumor. But hormone therapy has to be followed by other types of treatment like surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

This type of treatment is beneficial only for cancers that are sensitive to hormones like breast cancer, prostrate cancer, ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer.

Types of Hormone Therapy
Different types of hormone therapies are:

Neoadjuvant therapy: Through this therapy, the size of the tumor is reduced which makes it easier to destroy all cancerous cells during surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Adjuvant Therapy: In this therapy, hormone therapy is preceded by other forms of treatment like surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy. This is basically done to destroy any remaining cancerous cells and prevent recurrence of cancer.

Hormone therapy can be given in several forms, including:

• Surgery: Through surgery, hormone-producing parts of the body are removed so as to limit the supply of hormones to cancerous cells thus slowing the growth of tumor.
• Radiation: Here, production of hormones can be suppressed through X-rays.
• Drugs: Production of hormones can be changed with the help of drugs either taken in the form of a pill or injection.
  These drugs prevent cancer cells from coming in touch with hormones that helps the growth or spread of cancerous cells.

Side Effects:
Hormone therapy can reduce sexual desire in men. Breasts may become enlarged and they may also face difficulty in achieving erection. They may suffer from osteoporosis and incontinence. Women may feel tired, have mood swings. They may gain weight and suffer from osteoporosis.