What is preventive chemotherapy, following Princess Kate’s cancer diagnosis

Well, the shocking news of Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis has sparked conversations on various prevention and treatment methods. 22 News reporter Kelly Collins is live in the studio with what to know about preventative chemotherapy, a treatment the Princess of Wales is reportedly undergoing. Nick Ciara, in her video message announcing the diagnosis, Kate Middleton said that she's now in the early stages of her cancer treatment, but she did not reveal the type or how advanced it is. After weeks of speculation over her whereabouts, Kate Middleton announced that she has cancer. The disease was reportedly found when the Princess of Wales underwent abdominal surgery back in January. Now she's going through preventative chemotherapy at her medical team's direction. The idea here is if there is any hidden cancer cells, we want to try to get them. Though Middleton's type of cancer wasn't specified, oncology experts say it's likely that the chemo was the treatment of choice to prevent cancer from spreading elsewhere. When we give preventative chemotherapy, we're looking at reducing the risk of the cancer coming back and therefore we're looking at trying to get any tumor cells that might be still there in the body if they are still present. Now doctors say that this type of chemotherapy is common for patients who undergo a surgery and then cancer is found. The science is evolving in terms of determining is there really any residual cancer cells or not. Unfortunately, the reality is that often we still do it blindly, which means we consider depending on what was found, there is a certain risk. Because of that, we recommend chemotherapy. Now preventative chemotherapy is most commonly used in cases of breast, colon, ovarian or lung cancer. But again, Kate Middleton's cancer type has not been announced. Working for you, Kayleigh Collins, 22 News.