What is preventive chemotherapy and how effective is it?

The Princess of Wales has started undergoing preventive chemotherapy, also known as adjuvant chemotherapy, following a cancer diagnosis after major surgery in January.

This treatment involves using anti-cancer drugs to eliminate any remaining cancer cells post-surgery with the goal of reducing the risk of cancer recurrence, especially in areas difficult to detect by scans.

Preventive chemotherapy, which targets rapidly dividing cells, typically lasts between three to six months, varying with the cancer type and stage.

The effectiveness of this therapy varies; it's notably successful in treating breast, bowel, and lung cancers, and is used in other cancers like epithelial ovarian cancer to prevent recurrence. The decision to use adjuvant therapy is based on the cancer's type, stage, and other tumor characteristics.

Although effective, chemotherapy comes with side effects such as fatigue, nausea, increased infection risk, and loss of appetite, primarily because it affects not only cancer cells but also other rapidly dividing cells in the body.

These side effects are generally temporary, and recovery time varies by patient, with younger patients often experiencing fewer side effects and quicker recovery due to their greater resilience and ability to heal.

Preventive chemotherapy is a follow-up treatment to surgery aimed at reducing cancer recurrence by targeting residual cells, with its effectiveness and side effects varying depending on the individual case.