What is the usual duration of chemotherapy?
For metastatic breast cancer, there is no usual fixed duration. Treatment is often continued for as long as the patient can tolerate it or until the disease stops responding, whichever comes first. Randomized trials looking at the optimal duration of treatment have shown that giving a break after 6 months of treatment does not compromise survival and results in fewer side effects. However, the disease progresses sooner than one would expect compared with patients who continue to remain on chemotherapy. Paradoxically, in one study when patients were surveyed about the quality of life, those receiving chemotherapy ranked their quality of life superior compared with those who were on a break from chemotherapy and were not experiencing the side effects. This suggests that patients may feel more secure while receiving chemotherapy continuously.
