Chemoprevention is the administration of a drug to prevent disease before it develops, rather than to treat disease that is already present. Applications include giving antibiotics to patients with impaired immune systems to ward off infection, using anticoagulants such as heparin in hospitalized patients to prevent blood clots, giving specific antimalarial drugs to prevent malaria in at-risk regions, and administering intrathecal chemotherapy to cancer patients to keep disease from spreading into the nervous system. Because every medication carries some risk of side effects and cost can be prohibitive when the disease being prevented is rare, chemoprevention is only pursued when the benefits of treatment are judged to outweigh the risks.
Facts
FAQs
What does chemoprevention mean in cancer care?
The National Cancer Institute describes chemoprevention as medicines to treat a precancerous condition or to keep cancer from starting.
The National Cancer Institute lists chemoprevention among the many ways scientists are studying to help prevent cancer, and describes it as medicines to treat a precancerous condition or to keep cancer from starting. The same page defines precancerous conditions as conditions that may become cancer. This entry records how the source describes the term and is not medical advice.
Connections
Treats
Chemoprevention uses drugs to reduce the risk of cancer developing or recurring.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
Chemoprophylaxis (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemoprophylaxis, lead sectionQuote, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemoprophylaxis, lead section
Chemoprevention or chemoprophylaxis refers to the administration of a medication for the purpose of preventing disease or infection.
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