Ask an expert: Breast cancer video: Tell me more about chemotherapy

Want to know more about breast cancer? Dr Nick Plowman, Clinical Oncologist at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London answers some common questions about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer. Use the video clip menu below to select a question.

Video Transcript: Tell me more about chemo therapy  

Chemotherapy refers to the delivery of drugs that kill cancer cells usually intravenously and pulsed once every perhaps three weeks, used in this instance to reduce the chance of the patient relapsing in the future. 

By reducing that relapse rate overall survival is enhanced.  A patient with a higher risk breast cancer is taken down into a lower risk category. 

The patient develops some nausea with this but we usually overcome this.  They may lose some hair but it always grows back. 

They are slightly more prone to infections but we are aware of this and modern chemotherapy should be delivered in an acceptable way and should not upset patients too much.  This is chemotherapy used in the adjuvant setting.