quite simply, chemo doesn't always kill all the cancer cells. nor does radiation.

You can have a reoccurrence on or off the drugs

My surgeon and oncologist opted chemo then surgery. Doing the chemo first brought me from stage 3 down to stage 1 and opened the doors for the lumpectomy as opposed to a full mastectomy, although my insurance paid generously for the genetics testing before an decisions made. From what I understand different types of cancer and stages call for different types of treatment.

I finished surgery on November 13, 2014 (lumpectomy). My first chemo was December 18, 2014.

I had 6 months of chemo before mastectomy. surgeon wanted to shrink the tumor so she could see clear margins and get it all.. depends on what kind of cancer you have.