The aim of adjuvant hormone therapy for breast cancer is to reach, in daily practice, an efficacy similar to that obtained in clinical trials. In spite of the demonstrated efficacy of hormone therapy, compliance represents a major challenge and a multidimensional problem. A better understanding of the reasons underlying non-compliance would help identify the patients at higher risk and would permit the implementation of strategies to improve compliance to adjuvant hormone therapy. With this in mind, we undertook a review of the recent literature on the topic (Pub Med 2003-2009).