Hormonal therapy Planning and Administration
Hormone therapy is also called androgen suppression therapy. The goal is to reduce levels of male hormones, called androgens, in the body, to stop them from fueling prostate cancer cells. Androgens stimulate prostate cancer cells to grow. The main androgens in the body are testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Most androgen is made by the testicles, but the adrenal glands (glands that sit above your kidneys) as well as the prostate cancer itself, can also make a fair amount. Lowering androgen levels or stopping them from getting into prostate cancer cells often makes prostate cancers shrink or grow more slowly for a time. But hormone therapy alone does not cure prostate cancer
Hormone therapy may be used:
- If the cancer has spread too far to be cured by surgery or radiation, or if you can’t have these treatments for some other reason
- If the cancer remains or comes back after treatment with surgery or radiation therapy
- Along with radiation therapy as the initial treatment, if you are at higher risk of the cancer coming back after treatment (based on a high Gleason score, high PSA level, and/or growth of the cancer outside the prostate)
- Before radiation to try to shrink the cancer to make treatment more effective
