Breast cancer is a result of the cells in the breast developing genetic mutations that cause them to grow abnormally quickly. Although breast cancer predominantly affects women, some men can get this form of cancer as well. Chemotherapy is one approach for treating breast cancer, either in addition to or as an alternative to surgery.
Mechanism
Chemotherapy works to treat breast cancer by poisoning breast cancer cells. Chemotherapy uses medications that either poison rapidly dividing cells or slow the rate at which the breast cancer cells are able to divide. If the breast cancer has spread, chemotherapy is able to attack cancer cells anywhere in the body.
Adjuvant Therapy
One form of chemotherapy for breast cancer is called adjuvant therapy. As BreastCancer.org explains, adjuvant therapy is given to patients after they have had surgery for the breast cancer (either a mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery). This helps to kill any cancer cells that were left behind after the surgery.
Neoadjuvant
Neoadjuvant therapy involves administering chemotherapy before the patient has surgery for the breast cancer. As BreastCancer.org explains, this kind of chemotherapy can shrink breast cancer tumors prior to surgery, which makes the tumor easier to remove. It can also be done to see how the breast cancer tumor responds to different chemotherapy drugs so that the most effective drug can be used for adjuvant therapy as well.
Advanced Cancer
Chemotherapy can also be used for advanced breast cancer, even if it is inoperable. Because chemotherapy affects cancer cells throughout the body, it can treat metastasized breast cancer or tumors that have started to invade the lymph nodes.
Administration
As the American Cancer Center explains, chemotherapy for breast cancer is usually done with more than one medication used at once. This helps to maximize the effectiveness of the chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is usually administered in "cycles" so that the patient receives the medications for a period of time and then is given time off to recover, after which the effectiveness of the treatment is analyzed.
