Why Would You Get Chemo Before A Mastectomy? Chemotherapy is sometimes given before surgery (known as neoadjuvant therapy or preoperative chemotherapy) to shrink larger cancers. This may: Allow the surgeon the best chance of removing the cancer completely. Enable the surgeon to remove only the cancer, rather than the entire breast. What stage of breast
Why Is Chemotherapy Given After Surgery? The aim of chemotherapy after surgery or radiotherapy is to lower the risk of the cancer coming back in the future. This is called adjuvant treatment. The chemotherapy circulates throughout your body and kills off any cancer cells that have broken away from the main tumour before your operation.
How Long After Chemo Can I Have Surgery? “You usually need a one-to-two-month break between the last chemo treatment to the time of your surgery,” says Dr. Law. “Chemotherapy can stay in your body well beyond four weeks. So, your doctor has to time your surgery for when most of the chemo has faded away,”
How Long After Cancer Diagnosis Is Surgery? Sometimes cancer surgery needs to happen as soon as possible. Other times, waiting a while is not a problem. And sometimes you might need chemotherapy or radiation before having surgery. It’s not unusual for patients to wait a few weeks after learning they have cancer to have surgery.