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Chemotherapy Introduction
Chemotherapy is a type of Systemic Anti Cancer Treatment (SACT). Chemotherapy works by affecting how cancer cells divide and grow. It affects both healthy and unhealthy cells in your body but the healthy cells usually repair themselves after treatment.
Chemotherapy drugs may be given at different times and for different reasons:
- Before surgery or radiotherapy to shrink the cancer and reduce the risk of it coming back. This is called neo-adjuvant treatment.
- after surgery to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. This is called adjuvant treatment.
- as a treatment on its own to treat cancer that has spread or come back. This is called primary chemotherapy
How often will I have chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is often given in cycles with a rest period between treatments. This rest period gives your body time to recover from the side-effects of treatment. The number of cycles can vary, depending on your cancer type and how well it is responding to treatment.
Chemotherapy is usually given as an outpatient treatment in one of our day wards however, there are occasions where admission to hospital is required.
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