Hormone Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer: Exploring Options

Because prostate cancer causes few symptoms in its early stages, many men do not discover the condition until it has advanced. For men with advanced prostate cancer, hormone therapy, sometimes using female hormones, is a possible treatment option to prolong life.

Function

• Female hormones, such as estrogen, suppress the production of testosterone in a man's body. According to Dr. Stephan Werner of Werner-Francis Urology Associates, these hormones can also have a negative effect on the actual prostate tumor.

Hormone Action

• Blocking the production of testosterone starves the prostate tumor of the fuel it needs to grow and spread.

Effectiveness

• According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, hormone therapies for prostate cancer do not cure the condition, but rather slow its advance.

Warning

• Dr. Werner warns that estrogen treatments for prostate cancer can cause increased clotting in the blood. This can lead to blood clots, strokes and heart attacks.

Side Effects

• The American Cancer Society warns that hormone therapy can cause depression, mood swings, impotence, lowered libido, loss of muscle mass combined with weight gain, anemia, breast tenderness or growth, hot flashes and fatigue.

Use

• Because of the risks, female hormonal treatment for prostate cancer is primarily used for patients who have cancers that resist alternative hormone treatments.