Hormone treatment is “androgen deprivation”. That means it reduces the testosterone in a man’s body to very low levels. This has a profound effect on prostate cancer since the vast majority of prostate cancer tissue relies on testosterone to grow. If testosterone is removed, most of the prostate cancer will die. Hormone treatment is used to enhance the effects of radiation treatment, or in men with advanced disease (in which case cure is not possible), the dramatic effects of the hormone treatment can sometimes achieve long term remission from the effects of cancer. There are many different forms of hormone treatment, ranging from surgical procedures to tablets to depot injections, in which a small drug deposit is placed under the skin or in the muscle and the drug administered over a projected period of time. Side effects of hormone treatment include tiredness, hot flushes, weight gain around the waist and impotence. Long term, hormone treatment can cause thinning of the bones and muscle loss.