Appropriate Patients for Hormonal Therapy

Hormonal treatments for breast cancer are used for women who:

• Are at high risk, but have not had breast cancer
• Had non-invasive breast cancer (DCIS) and want to reduce the risk of recurrence and a new breast cancer
• Have hormone receptor-positive breast cancer that appears to have been completely removed by surgery (Hormonal therapy is used as adjuvant therapy to get rid of any remaining breast cancer cells. It may be used alone or in combination with chemotherapy.)
• Have invasive breast cancer and need to shrink a large tumor before surgery or radiation
• Have cancer that remains after surgery or cancer that has recurred (come back)
• Have advanced disease

Hormone drugs are only effective in women whose cancer has the estrogen or progesterone receptor. Every breast cancer is tested for these receptors and your physician will share these results with you. If the cancer is negative for both these receptors, you will not benefit from the treatment.

notes from: http://www.fccc.edu/cancer/types/breast/treatment/hormonal/index.html