Chemotherapy is usually given intravenously (through the veins) and is usually recommended for patients with positive lymph nodes or tumors of a certain size and/or grade. The main purpose of chemotherapy is to attack or get rid of any undetectable tumor cells that may be outside the breast (this is often referred to as "systemic" or "whole body" therapy). There are a variety of chemotherapy regiments and whether or not you will require chemotherapy often depends on the results of surgery. Therefore, a full discussion regarding the risks and benefits of chemotherapy is usually conducted with the
medical oncologist after surgery.