Who can have hormone therapy?
Hormone therapy is a treatment option for many men with prostate
cancer, but it is used in different ways depending on the stage of
your cancer. Speak to your doctor or nurse about your individual
treatment options.
You can read more about how hormone therapy is used for each stage
of prostate cancer in our online fact sheet.
Back to contents
What types of hormone therapy
are there?
LHRH agonists
These drugs stop the brain from telling your body to make
testosterone and are given by injection or as a small implant
inserted under the skin. There are several different LHRH agonist
drugs. Some of the common ones are:
- goserelin (brand names: Zoladex, NovGos)
- leuprorelin acetate (brand name: Prostap)
- buserelin acetate (brand name: Suprefact)
- triptorelin (brand names: Decapeptyl, Gonapeptyl Depot).
GnRH antagonists
At the moment, there is only one kind of GnRH
antagonist called degarelix (brand name
Firmagon).This type of drug is given by injection and is only
available in some hospitals.
Surgery to remove the testicles (orchidectomy)
This type of hormone therapy involves an operation, called
an orchidectomy, to remove the testicles, or just the parts of the
testicles that make testosterone. Without testosterone, the
prostate cancer cells are not able to grow.
Anti-androgens
These are tablets that stop testosterone from reaching the
cancer cells. There are several different anti-androgens,
including:
- bicalutamide (one brand name is Casodex)
- flutamide
- cyproterone acetate (one brand name is Cyprostat).
Back to contents
What are the advantages
and disadvantages?
There are specific advantages and disadvantages to the different
types of hormone therapy.
Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of hormone
therapy.
Back to contents
What does treatment
involve?
The type of hormone therapy you have will depend on the stage of
your cancer, the other treatments you are having and your own
personal preferences. You may have more than one type of hormone
therapy at the same time.
Depending on which type of hormone therapy you have, you may visit
the hospital or your GP surgery for treatment. You will have
regular prostate specific antigen (PSA)
blood tests to help check how well your treatment is working.
You may like to ask your specialist how often you will have a PSA
test.
Your doctor, nurse of GP will also monitor any side effects you
have from your treatment and other symptoms.
Your specialist team may suggest different ways of using hormone
therapy, such as combined androgen blockade and stopping and
starting hormone therapy (intermittent hormone therapy). You can
read more about this in our online fact sheet.
Back to contents
What happens afterwards?
Hormone therapy will be a life-long treatment for many men with
prostate cancer. Your original hormone therapy may keep your
prostate cancer under control for many months or years.
However, over time the behaviour of your cancer cells may change
and your cancer may start to grow again. Although the prostate
cancer is no longer responding to your original type of hormone
therapy, it may still respond to other types of hormone therapy or
a combination of other treatments.
You can read more about treatments for prostate cancer that is no
longer responding to your original hormone therapy in our Tool Kit
fact sheet, Second line hormone therapy and further treatment
options.
Back to contents
What are the side
effects?
Like all treatments, hormone therapy has a risk of side effects.
All types of hormone therapy can cause side effects, including
surgery to remove the testicles (orchidectomy). The side effects
are caused by lowered testosterone levels.
It is important to discuss the possible side effects with your
doctor or nurse before you start any treatment. If you know what
side effects to expect it can make it easier to cope with
them.
Hormone therapy affects different men in different ways. The risk
of getting each side effect depends on which treatment you are
having and how long you have it for. If you are concerned about
side effects speak to your doctor or nurse or call our
confidential Helpline.
The most common side effects of hormone therapy are:
- Loss of sex drive (libido) and erectile dysfunction
- Hot flushes
- Bone thinning
- Breast swelling and tenderness
- Tiredness (fatigue)
- Weight gain
- Strength and muscle loss
- Risk of diabetes, heart attack and stroke
- Changes to your memory and concentration
- Changes to your mood
You can find more detailed information about all these side
effects and ways to help manage or reduce them on our side effects page.
Back to contents
Questions to ask your
doctor or nurse
- What is the aim of treatment?
- What type of hormone treatment are you recommending for me and
why?
- How often will I have follow-up appointments?
- How long will it be before we know if the hormone therapy is
working?
- What are the possible side effects?
- What other treatments are available if the cancer starts to
grow again?
- What will happen if I decide to stop my treatment?
Back to contents
References
You can find a full list of references used to produce this page
in our online
fact sheet.
Back to contents