What is the Origin of Hormone Therapy and Cancer?

The conceptual foundation for this therapy dates back to early observations that manipulating the endocrine system could affect tumor growth, notably the regression of breast cancer after oophorectomy. The therapeutic field expanded significantly with the molecular identification of specific hormone receptors on cancer cells, leading to the development of highly targeted pharmaceutical agents.

What is the Mechanism of Hormone Therapy and Cancer?

The mechanism of action involves directly disrupting the hormone-receptor signaling pathway that drives cancer cell transcription and proliferation. For estrogen-dependent breast cancer, treatments like aromatase inhibitors reduce estrogen synthesis, while selective receptor modulators block the receptor. In prostate cancer, androgen deprivation therapy lowers testosterone levels. By eliminating or blocking the trophic signal, the therapy induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in the hormone-sensitive malignant cells.

Hormone Therapy and Cancer

Meaning

Hormone Therapy and Cancer refers to a specialized class of systemic cancer treatments that exploits the dependency of certain malignancies, such as hormone-receptor-positive breast and prostate cancers, on endogenous hormones for their growth. The clinical strategy involves administering pharmaceutical agents to either block the production of the stimulating hormone or inhibit its binding to the receptor on the cancer cell. This targeted approach is a cornerstone of endocrine oncology, aiming to halt tumor progression while often presenting a more favorable side-effect profile than traditional chemotherapy.