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Gonadal Suppression

Meaning

Gonadal suppression is a deliberate clinical strategy aimed at profoundly reducing or eliminating the endogenous production of sex hormones, specifically testosterone in males and estrogen and progesterone in females, by inhibiting the function of the testes or ovaries. This therapeutic state is achieved through pharmacological agents or, less commonly, surgical procedures to manage hormone-sensitive conditions like certain advanced cancers or specific forms of precocious puberty. It effectively creates a state of functional hypogonadism, significantly altering the patient’s endocrine environment.