Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells, usually by stopping or slowing the cancer cells’ ability to grow and divide. Chemo is used to treat breast cancer that has spread (metastasized) to other parts of the body.
How often you receive chemo and for how long depends on the type of breast cancer you have, the drugs used, how well the treatment works, and the side effects you have.
Common chemotherapy drugs used for breast cancer include AC (doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide), CMF, and taxanes such as paclitaxel and docetaxel.