Neoadjuvant chemotherapy refers to medicines that are administered before surgery for the treatment of breast cancer. Your doctors may recommend neoadjuvant chemotherapy due to the size of the tumor, since the drugs may shrink the tumor and give you more surgical options.In some cases, a woman who would have needed a mastectomy due to the large size of her tumor can become a candidate for lumpectomy by shrinking the invasive tumor prior to surgery. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is also performed for certain types of breast cancer, such as inflammatory breast cancer.Chemotherapy is usually administered intravenously and given to patients in an outpatient setting. There are some drugs that can be given orally. Some protocols call for a cycle of treatment every three weeks; others may be more frequent. Most women undergoing chemotherapy will have treatment for three to six months. Many women undergoing chemotherapy are able to work while receiving treatment, only missing a few days from work at a given time.