What cancers does hormone therapy treat?

Hormone therapy is used to treat prostate and breast cancers that use hormones to grow. According to the National Cancer Institute, hormone therapy is a cancer treatment that slows or stops the growth of cancer that uses hormones to grow. It is also called hormonal therapy, hormone treatment, or endocrine therapy.

Hormone therapy is most often used along with other cancer treatments. The types of treatment that you need depend on the type of cancer, whether it has spread and how far, whether it uses hormones to grow, and whether you have other health problems.

Hormone therapy is used for two main reasons: to treat cancer by stopping or slowing its growth and reducing the chance it returns, and to ease symptoms — for example, in men with prostate cancer who are not able to have surgery or radiation therapy. Your healthcare team can explain whether your cancer uses hormones to grow.