chemotherapeutic

adjective

che·​mo·​ther·​a·​peu·​tic ˌkē-mō-ˌther-ə-ˈpyü-tik 

: of, relating to, or used in chemotherapy

chemotherapeutic noun

chemotherapeutically

ˌkē-mō-ˌther-ə-ˈpyü-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Examples of chemotherapeutic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This can often be treated with cryotherapy (extreme cold air treatment), a topical chemotherapeutic agent (a drug that works to slow down or stop cancer cell growth), or photodynamic therapy (a light treatment used to destroy abnormal cells). —Isadora Baum, Allure, 19 Nov. 2024

The disparity in access to this chemotherapeutic agent, whose benefits have been known for two decades, is one of the key reasons why African patients die so much earlier than those in the U.S., where 85% of patients receiving treatment survive until adulthood. —Jayasree K. Iyer, STAT, 12 July 2023

Alpha-gal syndrome was first recognized in the early years of the 21st century when a physician noticed that allergic reactions to a chemotherapeutic drug containing galactose-α-1,3-galactose were much more common in the Southeast than in the rest of the country. —New York Times, 9 May 2022

The team tethered magnetic nanoparticles, called iron oxide, and a locked package of chemotherapeutic drugs to E. coli. —Jason P. Dinh, Discover Magazine, 15 July 2022

One example: Researchers combined a blood pressure medication, already generically available for humans and dogs, with a chemotherapeutic agent, also approved by the Food and Drug Administration for humans and dogs. —Rodney Lee Page, The Conversation, 9 Mar. 2022

Methotrexate, a chemotherapeutic drug, is most commonly used and is typically injected into your upper arm or buttocks in one dose (or possibly multiple doses). —Annie Sneed, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2020

It's often treated with cryotherapy, a topical chemotherapeutic agent, or photodynamic therapy. —Isadora Baum, Allure, 11 Dec. 2019

In one procession are the discoverers and synthesizers of various antibiotics for infections, chemotherapeutic agents for cancers, corticosteroids for lupus, and the like. —Siddhartha Mukherjee, The New Yorker, 15 July 2019

Word History

Etymology

chemo- + therapeutic, after German chemotherapeutisch

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chemotherapeutic

• psychotherapeutic
• antiscorbutic
• enzootic
• scorbutic
• hermeneutic
• therapeutic

Medical Definition

chemotherapeutic

1 of 2 adjective

che·​mo·​ther·​a·​peu·​tic -ˌther-ə-ˈpyüt-ik 

variants also chemotherapeutical

-i-kəl 

: of, relating to, or used in chemotherapy

chemotherapeutically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

chemotherapeutic

2 of 2 noun

variants or chemotherapeutical

: an agent used in chemotherapy