Hormone therapy for advanced breast cancer

EFFECTIVE H means of controlling advanced carcinoma of the breast in women and men.The appropriate sequential selection of ablative endocrine procedures or hormonal administration produces a prolonged survival of those patients who respond to treatment.These hormonal therapies are an integral part of the attempt to control breast cancer by the initial mastectomy, irradiation therapy, cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents and supportive measures in the care of the patient.Breast cancer can be altered significantly by the deprivation or administration of hormonal agents.The primary factors under consideration are the hormones of the pituitary gland, adrenal glands and the ovaries or testes.The sequential use of these factors is determined by the biological characteristics of the cancer, the physiological factors of the patient and the response of the cancer to an applied hormonal therapy.Of the physiological factors the menstrual age is the most significant.Whether the patient is premenopausal or postmenopausal determines the type of hormonal therapy to be applied.Biological characteristics of the cancer, such as duration, may aid in the prediction of the type of response to be anticipated.A favorable response to all forms of hormonal therapy is more likely in patients with a long history of the cancer, with a long interval between mastectomy and recurrence of the cancer or with a long history of existing metastases.Patients with inflammatory carcinoma of the breast or a rapidly growing tumor are not as likely to respond to hormonal therapies.The site of the metastases is an additional factor in determining the response of the tumor.Cutaneous, nodal or primary breast