How hormonal therapies can treat breast cancer?

Hormonal medications aim to shut off the estrogen supply in the breast cancer patients. Before menopause, most of the estrogen in a woman’s body produced by the ovaries. Another source of estrogen is the small quantities of estrogen which produced by fat cells. Besides, androstenedione which produced by the adrenal glands can be converted to estrogen by enzyme aromatase. Androstenedione is primarily a male steroid hormone that woman have in lesser amounts.

After menopause, ovaries no longer produce estrogen hormone. Now, the main source of estrogen supplies in the body stem is from fat cells and the 2 steps production process launched by the adrenal gland and enzyme aromatase.

There are a few strategies in hormonal therapies to reduce the supply of estrogen. Some hormonal medications compete with the estrogen for estrogen receptor, example Tamoxifen. Or, some may block a source of estrogen, which is known as aromatase inhibitors. Ovarian suppression or ablation is also one of the ways to shutting the production of estrogen from ovaries. However, this method is only effective towards premenopausal women, who are still having period.