# chemotherapy

Pronunciation: say "kee-moh-THER-uh-pee" US /ˌkimoʊˈθɛɹəpi/, UK /ˌkiːməʊˈθɛɹəpi/

## Noun

1. Treatment that uses chemicals to kill cancerous cells or stop them from multiplying and spreading in a patient.
   - Simple: Medicine that uses strong drugs to kill cancer cells or stop them from spreading in the body.
   - _Her oncologist recommended chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the tumor._
   - _Many patients lose their hair while undergoing chemotherapy._
2. Any treatment that uses chemical agents to act therapeutically against a disease state.
   - Simple: Treatment that uses chemicals or drugs to fight a disease in the body.
   - _Early chemotherapy against syphilis used compounds containing arsenic._
   - _Researchers developed chemotherapy to combat parasitic diseases in the tropics._

## Origin

Formed from the prefix "chemo-" combined with "therapy."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/chemotherapy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).