Hormones are chemical messengers that regulate specific body functions. Certain cancers use hormones to help them grow. Hormonal therapy is used in cancer treatment to interfere with the activity of certain hormones that can influence the growth of tumors.
Though hormonal therapy is not considered an effective treatment for kidney cancer, it may be used to ease pain or other symptoms caused by metastatic cancer.
References
General information about renal cancer. National Cancer Institute website. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/types/kidney/patient/kidney-treatment-pdq. Updated November 8, 2019. Accessed February 28, 2020.
Kidney cancer. National Kidney Foundation website. Available at: https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/what-kidney-cancer. Accessed February 28, 2020.
Kidney cancer (adult)—renal cell carcinoma. American Cancer Society website. Available at: http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003107-pdf.pdf. Accessed February 28, 2020.
Renal cell carcinoma. EBSCO DynaMed Plus website. Available at: http://www.dynamed.com/topics/dmp~AN~T114704/Renal-cell-carcinoma . Updated October 10, 2018. Accessed February 28, 2020.
Therapies for advanced kidney cancer. Kidney Cancer Association website. Available at: http://www.kidneycancer.org/knowledge/learn/therapies-for-advanced-kidney-cancer. Accessed January 3, 2017.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: EBSCO Medical Review Board Mohei Abouzied, MD, FACP
- Update Date: 02/28/2020