Final answer:
Hormone therapy for treating cancer involves blocking or suppressing hormones to stop or slow cancer growth; it's often used for cancers like prostate cancer that are sensitive to hormones. It's one type of chemotherapy that targets hormone-sensitive cells, and it's used alongside other treatments like surgery, radiation, and immunotherapy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Hormone therapy, particularly in the context of treating cancer, refers to C) blocking or suppressing hormones to slow or stop the growth of cancer. Certain types of cancer, such as prostate cancer, are sensitive to hormones and can be treated with substances like estrogens which block the release and activity of testosterone, a hormone that can enhance prostate cancer growth. This type of treatment is one aspect of chemotherapy, which includes a range of drugs that target rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells.
In addition to hormone therapy, other treatments for cancer include surgery, radiation, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. Each of these treatments has specific applications based on the type and stage of the disease, and oftentimes, a combination of these treatments is employed to achieve the best results. Hormone therapy is just one of the tools in the oncologist's toolkit, used to manage and potentially cure certain cancers by interfering with the body's hormone function to control the growth and spread of cancer cells.