Chemotherapy is a medical treatment that uses powerful drugs to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells. It can also affect healthy cells, which is why it often has strong side effects.
“Chemotherapy” combines “chemo-,” meaning “chemical,” and “therapy,” meaning “treatment.” It originally referred to treating diseases with chemicals, but now it most often means drug treatment for cancer.
Chemotherapy sounds high-tech, but at its core it’s a targeted poison aimed more at fast-growing cancer cells than at normal ones. That’s why hair, skin, and stomach cells—also fast-growing—often suffer too. The future of cancer treatment is trying to keep the “therapy” while dialing down the “poison.”
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.