Poisonous or harmful to cells, causing them to die or stop functioning properly.
From cyto- (Greek kytos, 'cell') + toxic (Latin toxicum, from Greek toxikon, 'poison'). The term became common in medical literature in the mid-20th century describing substances or immune responses that damage cells.
Your immune system uses cytotoxic cells as assassins—they can identify and kill cancer cells or virus-infected cells by punching holes in their membranes. This is why many cancer drugs work: they're cytotoxic, but hopefully more damaging to cancer than to your healthy cells.
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