The Princess of Wales revealed in a personal video this afternoon that she is undergoing “preventative chemotherapy” after doctors diagnosed her with cancer following her abdominal surgery in January. But what exactly is preventative chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy in general is “a drug treatment that uses powerful chemicals to kill fast-growing cells in your body,” the Mayo Clinic says on its website.
According to the World Health Organization, preventative chemotherapy is “the large-scale delivery of safe, single-administration, quality-assured medicines, either alone or in combination, at regular intervals, to entire population groups.” Usually, this type of treatment is used for human populations at risk of infection by helminths, or parasitic worms.
So it seems Princess Kate is likely referring to chemoprevention, which the National Cancer Institute describes as “the use of certain drugs or other substances to help lower a person’s risk of developing cancer or keep it from coming back.”
Kensington Palace has not disclosed what kind of cancer the princess has, and she did not elucidate in her video. Still, are a range of drugs, like tamoxifen and raloxifene, can be used to prevent certain types of cancer, especially in individuals who have a higher chance of developing the disease.
While it’s unclear how far along in her treatment Princess Kate is, a Kensington Palace insider told Bazaar that she began chemotherapy about a month ago. “The princess is now on a recovery pathway, having commenced a course of preventative chemotherapy in late February,” they said.
Of her current health status, the insider added, “The princess will return to official duties when she is cleared to do so by her medical team. She is in good spirits and is focused on making a full recovery.”
