In a round of shocking news, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton has revealed that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing preventative chemotherapy. In a vido released by Kensington Palace, Princess Catherine revealed that she underwent a successful abdominal surgery. However, later it was found that she has cancer cells.
While we wish her a speedy recovery, let us know more about preventative chemotherapy and how it is different from regular chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy is a medical treatment that uses drugs to kill rapidly dividing cells in the body. It is commonly used to treat cancer because cancer cells typically divide and grow more quickly than healthy cells.
According to a quote by Time.com, ‘Preventative chemotherapy’ is not a medical term, rather it means a wide range of medicines or treatment of different types of cancer.
Time quoted Dr Katherine Van Loon, professor of medicine and a gastrointestinal oncologist at the University of Calfornia, San Franciso who said, "It’s not a medical term, but I think we all agree that she is referring to adjuvant chemotherapy."
Mostly, drugs are administered via infusion at a hospital or facility over a few hours. However, some persons may need more time, for them, patients may be sent home with a port and a pump that will administer the chemotherapy continuously over a day or so, as reported by the media outlet.
Preventative chemotherapy chemotherapy targets residual cancer cells and reduces the likelihood of disease progression.
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