I read a response to a cancer question that stated if one had chemotherapy once and cancer returns then

[dave]

doing chemotherapy again will not work against the cancer, is that true? My wife had 27 weeks of chemotherapy followed by radiation. I have heard that if the cancer comes back in a different area then it would work, but now I am confused. Her original cancer was breast, does that mean if it comes back in the breast area chemotherapy would not work against the tumor this time?
Or would the tumor be able to resist the chemotherapy better?

[david c]

hi dave hope you and your wife are well
from what i understand you have got chemo and radio mixed up
i no you cant have radio in the same place but chemo can be given again as wall there are so many diffrent combonations

[stev d]

The only thing that I know of is she cannot get radiation in the same area. Chemo is a whole body thing radiation is one specific area. Atleast that is what my Dr. told me when I was going thru chemo. Congrats on beating BC any cancer can be a tough fight.

[inverse_mushroom_cloud]

Often if a cancer "recurs" then the same chemo used the first time is ineffective or less effective. However, other chemo drugs will often work against the recurrence.

If it comes back in a different area ... well, that depends how close the area is to the original site. If the new area is far away ... like lungs or liver are distant from the breast, then while a new chemo may be effective, it likely will not be able to "cure" the patient. If the recurrence is in the same breast, the new chemo may be able to put the recurrence into full remission. Cancer tends not to "jump" to the other breast ... though a new cancer can occur in the other breast.

I believe your wife had AC followed by Taxol. So if she were to recur, there are many other chemo drugs that they might choose to fight it a second time.