Many men with prostate cancer receive hormone treatment. The prostate is a hormonally responsive organ, and prostate cancer cells often retain the ability to respond to circulating hormones such as androgens like testosterone. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer seeks to disrupt androgen signaling to the prostate gland to slow or stop cancer growth and can lead to a number of effects on the male body.
Slowed Cancer Growth
The obvious effect of hormone therapy on prostate cancer is cancer treatment--the therapy slows or stops cancer cell growth. Hormone therapies may prevent the prostate from detecting androgens in the bloodstream. Since many prostate cancer cells rely on these hormones to grow and survive, preventing the cells from sensing the presence of androgens halts tumor growth. In other cases, hormone therapies may interfere with the production of androgens in the body, decreasing the overall levels of hormones like testosterone available to prostate cancer cells. Ultimately, inhibiting androgen signalling to prostate cancer cells can induce cancer remission, at least temporarily. The Prostate Cancer Canada Network indicates that hormone therapies can treat prostate cancer growth from anywhere to six months to 10 years.
Impotence
Although hormone therapy has obvious benefits in treating prostate cancer, the anti-androgen treatments can also cause a number of negative effects in the body. Hormone treatments that inhibit androgen production lower the overall levels of testosterone throughout the body. Since many tissues throughout the body rely on testosterone signalling, the use of these hormone therapies can have a number of side effects in other testosterone-sensitive tissues. A common side effect of hormone therapy for prostate cancer is impotence and erectile dysfunction. Testosterone plays a key role in achieving and maintaining erections, and the decrease in testosterone levels leads to impotence in around half of men receiving hormone therapy, reports CancerHelp UK. This effect is temporary, and most men regain the ability to maintain an erection in as little as three months following cessation of treatment.
Gynecomastia
Another potential effect of hormone therapy for prostate cancer is gynecomastia, or breast growth in males. Breast tissue responds to raised levels of female hormones, such as estrogen. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer disrupts normal hormone levels in men, leading to an imbalance in the levels of estrogen and testosterone in the blood. As a result, men receiving hormone therapy may experience breast growth, along with breast soreness and tenderness. A study published in the journal "Tumori" in 2004 indicates that breast growth due to hormone treatment for prostate cancer may be managed with anti-estrogen therapy or surgical removal of male breast tissue.
