hormone therapy

noun

: the therapeutic use of hormones: such as

a

: the administration of hormones especially to increase diminished levels in the body

especially : hormone replacement therapy

b

: therapy involving the use of drugs or surgical procedures to suppress the production of or to inhibit the effects of a hormone (such as estrogen or testosterone)

hormone therapy to treat breast or prostate cancer

c

: the administration or use of sex hormones (such as estrogen or testosterone) or other agents (such as antiandrogens) to suppress or induce the development of certain secondary sex characteristics to better align with the gender identity of a transgender or gender nonconforming individual

Many transgender people take lifelong hormone therapy …

—Carina Storrs

Examples of hormone therapy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The new policy also blocks transgender women or nonbinary students who are receiving masculinizing hormone therapy. —Lucia Suarez Sang, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2024

Under the new rules, transgender men and boys can participate on women’s teams without limitation if they were assigned female at birth and have not begun hormone therapy. —Justin Gamble, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024

All of these symptoms can be treated with options like medication, hormone therapy, and lifestyle changes.18 10. —Cristina Mutchler, Health, 7 Apr. 2024

And the hormone therapy used was a high-dose hormone distilled from horse estrogens. —Maggie Fox, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024

The child had taken puberty-delaying medications and hormone therapy. —Reuters, NBC News, 30 Mar. 2024

At this point, Jones said, there is no reason to believe the Kansas Legislature couldn’t continue to pursue right-wing policies like bans on hormone therapy and gender affirming surgery for transgender youth. —Katie Bernard, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024

There’s also the risk of infertility if children go straight from puberty blockers to hormone therapy, experts said. —Kristen Rogers, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024

The law, signed last year by Gov. Eric Holcomb, bans doctors from performing gender reassignment surgery or prescribing medication, like puberty blockers or hormone therapy, to those under 18 years old. —Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 28 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

hormone therapy

noun

variants or hormonal therapy

: the therapeutic use of hormones: as

a

: the administration of hormones especially to increase diminished levels in the body

especially : hormone replacement therapy

b

: therapy involving the use of drugs or surgical procedures to suppress the production of or inhibit the effects of a hormone (as estrogen or testosterone)

hormone therapy to treat breast or prostate cancer

c

: the administration or use of sex hormones or other agents (as antiandrogens) to suppress or induce the development of certain secondary sex characteristics to better align with the gender identity of an individual

Many transgender people take lifelong hormone therapy …

—Carina Storrs