What are the side effects of hormone therapy?

Depending on the active ingredient, various side effects may occur. Antiestrogens such as tamoxifen or fulvestrant typically cause menopausal symptoms because they suppress the effect of the estrogen. These include: In addition, the lack of effect of the estrogen can lead to increased growth of the lining of the uterus and, in rare cases, to cancer of the lining of the uterus.

The side effects of Fulvestrant are usually less severe than those of Tamoxifen.

Hot flashes
Insomnia
Nausea
Vaginal dryness
Problems of concentration
Weld outbreaks
Depressive moods
Libido loss
Itching and bleeding in the vaginal area
Thrombosis

Side effects include the following: To reduce the risk of bone fractures, bone density should be checked regularly and, if necessary, vitamin D and calcium should be taken to strengthen the bone structure.

Menopausal symptoms (but less frequently thromboses or uterine mucosa degeneration)
Complaints in the locomotor system, e.g. muscle and joint pain (myalgia and arthralgia)
Reduction of bone density, increased brittleness, osteoporosis

GnRH analogues interfere with the hormone control cycle and have ebesno some side effects:

Menopausal complaints
Reduced bone density, increased brittleness (osteoporosis)

A side effect of hormone therapy is weight gain.

This is one of the typical menopausal symptoms and can be a burden for patients. Weight gain can be caused by an increased appetite or by water retention in the tissue (edema). The weight changes can also be due to the influence of anti-hormonal treatment on the fat metabolism. Especially the aromatase inhibitors lead to weight gain. For this reason, regular exercise is recommended to stabilize the weight.

Advantages of hormone therapy

Hormone therapy has many advantages:

Unlike chemotherapy, it does not attack healthy cells. Although anti-hormonal therapy withdraws the hormone supply from both diseased and healthy cells, it does not cause them any direct damage. After discontinuing the therapy and removing diseased cells, the healthy cells can function normally again.
No long hospital stay, as most of the active ingredients can be taken in the form of tablets.
In general, antihormonal therapy has few side effects and is therefore better tolerated than classic chemotherapy.
It should also be noted that fertility can be maintained after discontinuing hormone therapy.