Fluoxymesterone
Brand Names
Halotestin® (There may be other brand names for this medication)
How is it Administered?
Fluoxymesterone is a pill, taken by mouth.
What is it Used For?
This drug is used to treat breast cancer.
How Does it Work?
Hormones are chemicals that are made by your body. They travel through the blood to get to their “target” tissue or organ, where they will have a certain effect.
If a tumor contains receptors for certain hormones, the presence of those hormones can cause the tumor to grow. Hormone therapy can work by stopping the production of a certain hormone, blocking hormone receptors, or substituting a similar chemical for the active hormone, which cannot be used by the cancer cells.
Fluoxymesterone is a type of hormone therapy, in a class called androgens. Androgens, such as testosterone, usually stimulate certain male characteristics, but as cancer therapy are used to oppose the activity of estrogen, thereby slowing the growth of cancers that thrive on estrogen.
