Hormone Therapy Hormone replacement therapy - are they different?

Hormone therapy is a treatment option for women with breast cancer with hormone receptor-positive. Such as chemotherapy, hormone therapy is systemic therapy, meaning that works the whole body. Breast cancer, hormone therapy should not be confused with hormonal replacement therapy, used to restore hormone levels postmenopausal women. Since the two therapies can be easily confused, let's take a closer look at each.

What are hormones?
BeforeHormone therapy may be explained, it is important to understand what role hormones and play. Hormones are substances produced by glands and are very powerful. Too much or too little of one hormone can cause problems. They work as messengers and travel through the blood that carry messages from glands to cells. They also control the actions of certain cells and regulate many biological functions, such as:

- Growth
- Metabolism
- Sexual Function
- Reproduction
- Mood

Breast cancer hormone therapy
Hormone therapy is a treatment option for breast cancer when the cancer breast cells are found to be positive or hormone receptor-sensitive. This simply means that cancer cells have a place where hormones can attach, known as receptors. The receptor is a protein on the outside of a cell that gives a specific hormone. Once the diagnosis of breast cancer, tests are done to measure theamount of hormone receptors in tumor tissue. If levels are elevated hormone receptors, the expression "receptor positive, meaning that cancer cells can use hormones to grow. Hormone therapy removes or blocks hormones may act to keep cancer cells from growing. Treatment may include medication, surgery or radiation. Hormone therapy is used most often to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence after surgery, but is used in cases ofadvanced breast cancer as well.

Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy after menopause is used to replace hormones that the ovaries no longer produce. Whether you start naturally or after a hysterectomy, menopause can cause some very unpleasant symptoms - hot flashes, mood swings, vaginal dryness and urinary problems. To alleviate these symptoms, doctors often prescribe hormone replacement drugs.

A few years ago, it was thought that the hormonereplacement therapy is the solution to the problems of women as they age. In addition to menopause, the medical community believes that increased estrogen levels may also help prevent cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. This is no longer the case.

Recently, the results of a 15-year study that began in 1991 by the National Institutes of Health has found a direct relationship between HRT and breast cancer. The study was initiated to determine what effect, if any,Hormone replacement therapy and other factors had on breast cancer, heart disease, bone fractures, and colorectal cancer. More than 16,000 postmenopausal women were studied over a period of 15 years, however, the trial was stopped more than three years in early 2002 because of the relationship between HRT and breast cancer. We found that women taking postmenopausal hormones for more than five years to relieve menopausal symptoms like hot flashes aretwice the risk of developing breast cancer than women not taking hormones. Fortunately, the risk decreases when women stop taking the medication and return to normal after two years of inactivity of the drug.

It is important to know that hormones can have positive effects in certain therapies and other negative effects. If you have questions about a specific type of hormone therapy, talk with your doctor.

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