adjuvant chemotherapy

Adjuvant chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to eliminate or suppress any remaining cancer cells after primary treatments like surgery or radiation have been used to remove the main tumor. This is important because tiny cancer cells, called micrometastases, can sometimes spread beyond the original tumor site.1

Adjuvant chemotherapy aims to reduce the chance of the cancer returning. It has been found effective in lowering recurrence rates for certain cancers, including ovarian cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, colorectal cancer, and nephroblastoma. For example, the drug tamoxifen is used as adjuvant therapy for some breast cancer patients. The goal is to kill cancer cells while minimizing harm to healthy cells, a challenging balance due to most drugs having a narrow therapeutic range.1