The main aim of chemotherapy is to target cancer cells and eliminate them. This treatment involves intake of drugs that contain radioactive isotopes. Chemotherapy for breast cancer makes use of cytotoxic based drugs to exterminate cancer cells growth. As cancer cells circulate in blood, they can reach in any part of the body. Hence their growth must be stopped at initial stages itself and chemotherapy for breast cancer has proven to be quite effective for this purpose.
Chemotherapy is given orally or intravenously. These drugs are unable to differentiate between normal cells and cancer cells. They just rapidly destroy dividing cancerous cells as well as those cells that are actively functioning. Most patients can continue their work while they are receiving chemotherapy.
There are some risks involved in the treatment of chemotherapy for breast cancer
Cancer cells are not the only ones that are rapidly dividing. Cells in the nose, intestinal tract, mouth, intestinal tract, vagina and nails tend to undergo rapid division. That means treatment of chemotherapy is bound to have some negative side effects. Chemotherapy may lower healthy red blood cells and white blood cells. This may lead to hair loss, sore mouth and. Fatigue or tiredness is a very common side effect of chemotherapy
Treatment of Chemotherapy is generally given before surgery. It is called neoadjuvant therapy and is given to shrink the tumor. This treatment reduces the possibilities of you having to under go surgical procedures in order to deal with breast cancer.
Chemotherapy for breast cancer may also be given after surgery. It is then called adjuvant therapy. You may require this therapy because you have had a big tumor in the breast or if cancerous breast cancer cells were detected in your lymph nodes.
When giving chemotherapy injections do not forget to wear gloves. General hygiene is advised when undergoing chemotherapy. Although chemotherapy has some side effects, they are temporary. By doing light exercises you can easily recover from these side effects.