Oestrogen Patches for hormone treatment

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User

Posted 26 Mar 2026 at 20:38

In today's newspaper was an article about the benefits of Oestrogen Patches as compared with hormone treatment for locally advanced cases. The outcome being similar except the patches had lower side effects. A link below sums it up:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/mar/hormone-patches-effective-locally-advanced-prostate-cancer

User

Posted 26 Mar 2026 at 22:19

They used to prescribe the tablet form of oestrogen many moons ago before LRLH agonists were invented, I wonder if the inventors of Zoladex screwed the trial data to prefer the expensive "new" wonder drug?

User

Posted 27 Mar 2026 at 00:04

I've seen this before. I think there was a trial of it here. It's possible used by some in the US

User

Posted 27 Mar 2026 at 21:55

Interesting. As I understand it prostate cancer cell growth is testosterone-dependent rather than oestrogen-inhibited. Which means it may work by acting on the testes to reduce testosterone production.

It sounds as if it has a slightly different mix of side effects from the usual LHRH agonists, like the direct effect on breast tissue. It may be the side effects which decide its usefulness in clinical practice - including how easily normal hormones return after treatment.

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