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Synonyms

chemotherapy

American  
[kee-moh-ther-uh-pee, kem-oh-] / ˌki moʊˈθɛr ə pi, ˌkɛm oʊ- /

noun

Medicine/Medical.

  1. the treatment of disease by means of chemicals that have a specific toxic effect upon the disease-producing microorganisms or that selectively destroy cancerous tissue.

chemotherapy British  
/ kiːmə-, ˌkiːməʊˈθɛrəpɪ /

noun

  1. treatment of disease, esp cancer, by means of chemical agents Compare radiotherapy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
chemotherapy Scientific  
/ kē′mō-thĕr′ə-pē /

  1. The treatment of disease, especially cancer, using drugs that are destructive to malignant cells and tissues.

  2. The treatment of disease using chemical agents or drugs that are selectively toxic to the causative agent of the disease, such as a microorganism.

chemotherapy Cultural  

  1. The treatment of disease with chemicals. The term chemotherapy often refers to a kind of treatment for cancer in which chemicals are administered to destroy cancer cells.

Discover More

There are often side effects to chemotherapy, a common one being the temporary loss of hair.

Other Word Forms

  • chemotherapist noun

Etymology

Origin of chemotherapy

First recorded in 1905–10; chemo- + therapy

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The researchers now plan to study how the antibody performs alongside existing chemotherapy and immunotherapy options.

From Science Daily

He underwent chemotherapy and a donor stem cell transplant in July but in November was told that his cancer had returned.

From BBC

They also aim to study how exercise-related effects interact with common cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

From Science Daily

They developed a device to prevent the hair loss that often comes with chemotherapy, spun Luminate out in 2021 and took the company through Y Combinator’s accelerator program the same year.

From The Wall Street Journal

Holly said the intense chemotherapy "affected me in ways that I never thought it would" and the "hardest thing was just accepting that… life won't be the same".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.