Breast cancer: more insights on how hormonal therapy works

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Biotechnology

Concept:

Work carried out by researchers from the Integrated Cancer Genomics Laboratory at the Advanced Centre for Training, Research, and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) in Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Centre has shed more light on the molecular mechanism through which progesterone treatment prior to breast cancer surgery is quite likely to increase the survival rates of patients.

Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer

Some types of breast cancer are affected by hormones, like estrogen and progesterone.
The breast cancer cells have receptors (proteins) that attach to estrogen and progesterone, which helps them grow.
Most types of hormone therapy either lower estrogen levels in the body or stop estrogen from helping breast cancer cells grow.
Hormone therapy can reach cancer cells almost anywhere in the body and not just in the breast.
It’s recommended for women with tumors that are hormone receptor-positive. It does not help women whose tumors don’t have hormone receptors (these tumors are called hormone receptor-negative).
Hormone therapy is often used after surgery (as adjuvant therapy) to help reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.
Sometimes it is started before surgery (as neoadjuvant therapy).
It is usually taken for at least 5 years.