• Hormone therapy is another form of systemic therapy. It is most often used as an adjuvant therapy to help reduce the risk of cancer recurrence.
• Estrogen promotes the growth of breast cancers those containing estrogen receptors (ER-positive cancers) and progesterone receptors (PR-positive cancers). Because of this, several approaches to blocking the effect of estrogen or lowering estrogen levels are used to treat ER-positive and PR-positive breast cancers.
• Tamoxifen is the commonest anti estrogen drug used.
• Aromatase inhibitor can be used in post-menopausal women. These drugs may be used in replacement of tamoxifen for 5 years; after a 2 to 3 year course of tamoxifen, or after 5 years of tamoxifen.
• It has been shown to better reduce the risk of cancer recurrence-compared to using just tamoxifen. But aromatase inhibitor are expensive.

Sources:

The cancer treatment information is made possible through grant from Boeing.
The article has been reviewed by Associate Prof. Dr. Nur Aishah Binti Mohd Taib, Consultant Breast Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine Building, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur