Q: My father has been diagnosed with infiltrating duct carcinoma. He has been advised for radical surgery and chemotherapy. Four cycles of chemotherapy have been completed. Doctor has advised for another 2 cycles. He doesn't eat well during chemotherapy. How is the number of chemotherapy cycles determined? The tumour size was 2 cm and one node was also affected. Will additional 2 cycles have any adverse effect on his overall health? He is 68 years old. Please advise.

A:Your father should undergo full courses of chemotherapy as advised by your doctor. For 7-10 days, the patients do have side effects of chemotherapy. Your father should be encouraged to take a high protein diet e.g. milk, curd, cheese, eggs, protinex, non-veg food, etc. Secondly, the excised specimen should also be tested for oestrogen and progesterone receptor and HER2-neu oncogene study. If found positive, he will be a candidate for further therapy with oral hormones, etc.