Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an anti neoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen. Chemotherapy acts by killing cells that divide rapidly, one of the main properties of most cancer cells. This also harms cells that divide rapidly under normal circumstances, cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract and hair follicles. This results in the most common side effects of chemotherapy decreased production of blood cells, inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract and hair loss.  Damage to healthy cells may cause side effects. Often, side effects get better or go away after chemotherapy is over. Chemotherapy, often shortened to just "chemo," is a systemic therapy, which means it affects the whole body by going through the bloodstream.

A combination of two or more medicines will be used as chemotherapy treatment which means you get two or three different medicines at the same time. In some cases, chemotherapy is given before surgery to shrink the cancer so that less tissue has to be removed. When chemotherapy is given before surgery, it's called "neoadjuvant" chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is always recommended if there is cancer in the lymph nodes, regardless of tumor size or menopausal status. Breast cancer in premenopausal women tends to be more aggressive, so chemotherapy is often part of the treatment plan. For some women chemotherapy is recommended to diagnose with early-stage breast cancer if the cancer is hormone-receptor-negative and HER2-positive.

During chemotherapy, maintaining adequate nutrition is to minimizing deficiency and optimizing your immune system, strength and treatment tolerance. Various cancer treatments may affect patients nutritionally. Add protein in your diet because protein is an important component of good nutrition, increase foods like cheese, ice cream, milk, eggs, peanut butter and others that can help you get the protein your diet needs during chemotherapy.