Sometimes, chemotherapy is used as the only cancer treatment. But frequently, you will get chemotherapy along with surgery or radiation therapy. Patients may receive monotherapy (1 drug) or combination therapy (multiple drugs). Chemotherapy is used to:
Make a tumor smaller before surgery or radiation therapy. This is called neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.
Destroy cancer cells that may remain after surgery or radiation therapy. This is called adjuvant chemo therapy.
Increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy.
Kill cancer cells that have come back (recurrent cancer) or spread to other parts of your body (metastatic cancer).