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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffHormone therapy for breast cancer uses drug treatments that target breast cancers which are sensitive to certain hormones. The most common forms of hormone therapy for breast cancer work either by blocking estrogen from attaching to cancer cells or by decreasing your body's production of estrogen.
Hormone therapy for breast cancer is most commonly given after you have had an operation to remove the cancer. Your doctor may recommend using hormone therapy prior to an operation in order to shrink a tumor. If cancer has already spread, hormone therapy for breast cancer may shrink and control it. You'll likely take hormone therapy for breast cancer for at least five years.
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- Treatment of invasive breast cancer by stage. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_4X_Treatment_by_Stage_Breast_Cancer_5.asp?sitearea=. Accessed June 4, 2010.
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