Why is it important to keep taking my hormone therapy?
A breast cancer diagnosis and treatment can affect every aspect of your life. You might have questions about beginning - or continuing - a longterm treatment like hormone therapy.
It can be helpful to know how hormone therapy drugs work, reducing the likelihood of breast cancers coming back. Understanding your treatment is key so you can make informed decisions and feel empowered to manage your treatment.
Hormone therapy and breast cancer
Taking hormone therapy as prescribed is important because your type of breast cancer has hormone receptors. This means your breast cancer uses hormones such as oestrogen or progesterone to help the cells divide and grow.
Your hormone therapy is a daily tablet, but could also include ovarian suppression which will help deprive the breast cancer cells of the hormones they use to grow.
This is most important for any breast cancer cells that cannot be detected - in the breast or elsewhere in the body - following treatment such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
You will have been prescribed treatment for a long time. Usually five to ten years. Taking hormone therapy every day will reduce the risk of recurrence and developing a new breast cancer in either breast.
Try to make taking it part of your daily routine so it becomes a habit. This could be after cleaning your teeth in the morning or at night time.
How long will I take hormone therapy for?
The recommended length of time that you take hormone therapy for will be individual to you.
Most people will usually take hormone therapy between five and ten years.
If you become post-menopausal while taking tamoxifen, your specialist team may recommend you change from tamoxifen to an aromatase inhibitor (AI). This can happen after two to three years of taking tamoxifen, or after you have taken tamoxifen for five years.
If you are pre-menopausal, you will likely be recommended ovarian suppression Stops the ovaries from making oestrogen, and is used as part of treatment for breast cancer in premenopausal women) alongside your hormone therapy tablets.
Stopping hormone therapy
Once you have taken your hormone therapy for the prescribed duration (usually between five and ten years), your specialist team or GP will tell you when to stop.
Stopping hormone therapy can cause worry and uncertainty, but be reassured that the benefits of having taken your hormone therapy for the prescribed duration, will continue to reduce the risk of breast cancer coming back.
This is known as the carryover effect – the long-lasting benefit of hormone therapy after completing hormone therapy for the prescribed duration.
If you have any worries or concerns about stopping hormone therapy, you can call our BCFNZ specialist nurses for further information and support.