It is completely different from hormone replacement therapy as it works against hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. HRT is a medication prescribed to battle symptoms of menopause. It is not a breast cancer treatment and it is considered relatively unsafe, particularly for women already diagnosed with breast cancer.
Hormone therapy medicines are used to treat hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers. This type of medication works in two ways: it lowers the amount of the hormone estrogen in your body and it blocks the action of estrogen on breast cancer cells.
The larger quantity of estrogen in your body is produced in your ovaries. Your estrogen hormones naturally react to hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers by making them grow. Theoretically, by reducing the amount of estrogen or blocking its action through hormone replacement can reduce the risk of early-stages of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers. If you are a patient who has had a history of breast cancer and has already undergone surgery, hormone therapy reduces your risk of the cancer from recurring. Hormone therapy medicines are also be used to shrink or slow the growth of “advanced-stage” or metastatic hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers. They are not, however, effective in busting hormone-receptor-negative breast cancers.
Hormone replacement therapy, on the other hand, is a prescription medication that is used to increase your estrogen levels. It was originally designed for women who were believed to be estrogen deficient due to menopause.