Kate Middleton announced on Friday March 22 that she had cancer. To combat the disease, the Princess of Wales is undergoing “preventive chemotherapy” treatment. Objective, duration, effectiveness… We tell you everything about this treatment.
With a pale face, sitting in her garden, Kate Middleton announced that she was sick with cancer. The disease was diagnosed after the abdominal operation that the Princess of Wales underwent at the end of February. The news resonated like shock waves in Great Britain. But Kate wanted to reassure her fellow citizens. “I’m doing well and I’m getting better every day,” she said, adding that she had started “preventative chemotherapy” treatment, recalls Le Figaro.
Reduce the spread of cancer
Chemotherapy is intended to kill cancer cells, explains the newspaper. As a preventative measure, treatment is generally offered after an operation to “reduce the risk of cancer spreading” in the body, explains Lawrence Young, professor of oncology at the British University of Warwick in the British journal Science Media Center, relayed by the French daily. Because even after successful surgery, “microscopic cancer cells can remain lurking in the body without being able to be detected.”
Up to six months of treatment
Preventative chemotherapy regimens tend to last three to six months, but the duration of this treatment still varies depending on the nature of the cancer. It is administered in four or six cycles which can last 21 days and “consists[nt] a day or a few days of chemo, then recovery time for the body,” explains Andrew Beggs, surgeon at the University of Birmingham, reports Le Figaro.
Cancer cases on the rise
At only 42 years old, Kate Middleton will therefore have to fight against illness like her father-in-law King Charles III, who is 75 years old. It may take weeks or even months to recover from treatment. Last week, research published in the journal BMJ found that cancer cases among Britons aged 35 to 69 had increased over the last quarter of a century, says Le Figaro. This work also found that the number of deaths from cancer had decreased significantly. Younger people are also more likely to survive cancer.