Hormone Therapy for Gynecologic Cancer
Some cancers use your body’s own hormones to grow and spread. Hormone therapy works by preventing cancer from getting the hormones it needs to grow. Depending on your type of gynecologic cancer, your doctor may recommend blocking certain hormones or taking medications that stop your body from producing certain hormones.
What Is Hormone Therapy?
Hormone therapy is a kind of cancer treatment that works by preventing cancer from getting the hormones it needs to grow. Doctors use medication to either block certain hormones or to stop your body from producing certain hormones. For gynecological cancer, hormone therapy works on estrogen and progesterone.
Hormone therapy for cancer is different than hormone therapy for menopause. Hormone therapy for cancer blocks hormones to stop cancer growth. Hormone therapy for menopause adds hormones to the body to help ease the symptoms of menopause.
What are hormones?
Hormones are chemicals made by the body that control how cells and organs work. Some of the hormones people are most familiar with include:
- Sexual hormones (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone).
- Thyroid hormones.
- Cortisol.
- Adrenaline.
- Insulin.
What Gynecologic Cancer Conditions Do We Treat With Hormone Therapy?
For patients with gynecologic cancer, endometrial and ovarian cancer may respond to hormone therapy.
- Endometrial cancer — Endometrial cancer is the most common form of uterine cancer. It starts in the lining of the uterus. More than 40,000 women are diagnosed with uterine cancer in the United States each year.
- Ovarian cancer — Ovarian cancer is the most serious of the gynecologic cancers. It affects nearly 25,000 women in the United States each year.
Who Can Benefit from Hormone Therapy?
If you have endometrial or ovarian cancers, doctors may suggest hormone therapy to:
- Prevent and/or delay your cancer from returning.
- Relieve or manage cancer side effects.
- Shrink your tumor before surgery or radiation therapy.
- Treat advanced cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
Whether you are a candidate for hormone therapy depends on many factors. They include:
- Age.
- Medications you take.
- Menopause.
- Overall health.
- Type and stage of cancer.
- Whether your tumor expresses hormone receptors.
You should discuss these factors with your care team to see if you're a candidate for hormone therapy.
What Hormone Therapy Treatments Do We Offer for Gynecological Cancer?
There are three ways doctors use hormone therapy to treat cancer:
- Using synthetic hormones or drugs to disrupt the body’s natural hormones. This stops the flow of hormones to affected tissues and deprives the cancer of the hormones it needs to grow.
- Using drugs to stop the body’s production of natural hormones. This slows or stops cancer from using hormones to grow.
- Removing the glands (or organ) that make the hormones. Again, this disrupts cancer by removing the hormones it needs to grow.
What Can I Expect?
How is hormone therapy delivered?
Hormone therapy is typically given orally or injected.
If your provider prescribes oral medication in the form of a pill, capsule, or liquid, you can take it at home. If they prescribe medication that needs to be injected, you will typically receive shots at the doctor’s office or a treatment center. In some cases, your care team can teach you how to give yourself injections.
How long does hormone therapy take?
Patients can take hormone therapy for a few months or years. It depends on your body’s response to the treatment.
What are the side effects of hormone therapy?
Hormone therapy is an effective cancer treatment for many people. However, it comes with side effects that can be mild in some people and severe in others. Side effects include:
- Bone loss.
- Fatigue.
- Higher risk of other cancers.
- Hot flashes or night sweats.
- Infertility.
- Menstrual changes.
- Mood changes.
- Nausea.
- Vaginal irritation.
- Vaginal bleeding.
- Weight gain.
Although these symptoms are similar to menopause symptoms, hormone therapy for cancer and hormone therapy for menopause are not the same.
Why Choose UPMC?
UPMC Magee-Womens and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center partner to provide expert care for gynecologic cancer. At UPMC, you can expect:
- Compassionate care — You are not alone in your fight against gynecologic cancer. Our team will not only provide you with the latest advancements in cancer care, but they will also guide and support you through diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.
- National recognition — UPMC Magee-Womens and UPMC Hillman are nationally recognized for excellent care. UPMC Hillman is one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country — and the only one in western Pennsylvania. UPMC Magee-Womens is a National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. We work together to provide expert care for women with gynecologic cancer.
- Care close to home — We provide gynecologic oncology services in communities across the region. You don’t have to travel far from home to receive the world-class care you need.
By UPMC Editorial Staff. Last reviewed on 2026-08-06.
