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If you have breast cancer you may well have hormone therapy after surgery or radiotherapy, to try to stop the cancer coming back. This is why most people who have breast cancer surgery take Tamoxifen for five years afterwards. Tamoxifen blocks the effect of oestrogen on breast cancer cells. Without oestrogen, the cancer cells are less able to grow and multiply.
If you have prostate cancer you may have hormone therapy for three months before radiotherapy treatment. The aim is to shrink the cancer and make the radiotherapy more likely to be effective. Sometimes, hormone therapy without radiotherapy is offered. The treatment may shrink and control the cancer.
Hormone therapy may be used to treat cancer that can't be cured, because it is often able to keep the disease under control for long periods. Many patients have enjoyed years of good quality life thanks to hormone therapy - although it doesn't work in every case.
