What is the term for the use of drugs or chemicals to treat cancer?

The term for the use of drugs or chemicals to treat cancer is chemotherapy. This approach involves administering medications that are designed to kill cancer cells or inhibit their growth. Chemotherapy can target rapidly dividing cells, which is a hallmark of many cancer types. This treatment is often systemic, meaning it affects the entire body, as the drugs are typically delivered through the bloodstream.

While radiation therapy focuses on using high doses of radiation to destroy cancer cells in a specific area, and immunotherapy works by stimulating or enhancing the body's immune system to fight cancer, those methods involve different mechanisms than chemotherapy. Hormone therapy, on the other hand, specifically targets hormone-driven cancers by blocking or lowering hormone levels in the body. Each of these therapies plays a unique role in cancer treatment, but the key characteristic of chemotherapy is its reliance on chemical agents to directly attack cancerous cells.