Chemotherapy is a systemic therapy used to kill or disable cancer cells that may have spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body.

For people with early breast cancer, chemotherapy is usually given after surgery, but before radiation therapy. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy and helps lower the risk of breast cancer recurrence by destroying any remaining cancer cells that might still be in the body but are too small to detect.

Sometimes, chemotherapy is used before surgery. This is called neoadjuvant or preoperative chemotherapy. It can shrink larger tumors, which can allow for a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy.

In some locally advanced breast cancers, including inflammatory breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy can reduce the size of the tumor in the breast and/or in the lymph nodes, making surgery more effective.

In some cases, how cancer responds to neoadjuvant chemotherapy can help guide the next steps in treatment.

Your treatment schedule for chemotherapy depends on the specific drugs and the combination of them that’s being given. Often, chemotherapy is given in cycles with breaks in between treatments to give your body a chance to recover. A full course of chemotherapy for early or locally advanced breast cancer usually lasts about 3 to 6 months.

Today, most chemotherapy drugs are given through an IV into a vein, though some are taken as pills. Several chemotherapy drugs are often used together because they work in different ways to keep cancer cells from growing. Treatment decisions are made based on the characteristics of the tumor, breast cancer stage, your age, overall health and personal preferences.

For more information, visit the Chemotherapy page within the Treatment section of komen.org.