What is the preventative chemotherapy Princess Kate is undergoing?
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Kate, the Princess of Wales, shocked the world when she revealed she was diagnosed with cancer. In a rare video released by Kensington Palace, Kate said she is undergoing “preventative chemotherapy treatment” following abdominal surgery in January.
During the video announcement, Kate said, “Tests after the operation found cancer had been present,” and that she was in the early stages of treatment. She didn’t say what kind of cancer was found, nor did she give details of her chemotherapy. The statement from Kensington Palace said Kate found out about the cancer after post-surgery tests were done.
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Preventative chemotherapy is not a phrase used in medicine, according to Dr. Otis Brawley, professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
“This is a laize term that is being applied to the princess, but adjuvant chemotherapy is chemotherapy we give after surgery with the intention of destroying or killing any small or microscopic disease left behind that we cannot see. We commonly give adjuvant chemotherapy when treating colon cancer or certain stages of colon cancer, certain stages of endometrial cancer, certain stages of ovarian or fallopian tube cancer and it’s also very commonly used in breast cancer,” he said.
The palace statement said no details would be provided about her cancer or her treatment, other than she started it in late February.
“We will not be sharing any further private medical information. The Princess has a right to medical privacy as we all do,” the statement said.
After successful surgery, chemotherapy is often used to help kill any stray cancer cells and to prevent the cancer from coming back. Treatments have evolved, and when chemo is used now, it’s sometimes for shorter periods or lower doses than it once was.
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Dr. Brawley said it’s important the princess went public with her cancer diagnosis.
“You know, whenever someone, a celebrity, has cancer and starts talking about it, I’m hoping that we can grab something good out of it and some public health messages. You know, for example, in the case of her disease and we don’t really know what cancer she has, let’s stick to the very, very basics of cancer prevention, which is 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, trying to maintain an ideal body weight, getting some exercise, all of those things lower risk of cancer and not smoking. You know, those are the things that I would try to stress the greatest. The awareness about cancer, awareness, about health, awareness, about the disease. And so those can all be very good things. I’m glad she talked about her disease. I wish she talked a little bit more specifically,” he said.
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