What is the primary purpose of chemotherapy?

The primary purpose of chemotherapy is to kill or inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs are designed to target rapidly dividing cells, which is a characteristic of cancer cells. By affecting the cellular processes of these malignant cells, chemotherapy aims to reduce the size of tumors, eliminate cancer cells from the body, or prevent them from spreading further.

While relieving pain, enhancing immune response, and preventing recurrence are important aspects of cancer management, they do not represent the main goal of chemotherapy itself. Pain relief often involves other types of treatment and medications. Enhancing the immune system’s response is more specifically the domain of immunotherapy rather than traditional chemotherapy. Preventing cancer recurrence might involve post-treatment strategies, but again, it is secondary to the primary action of chemotherapy, which is to directly attack and reduce cancer cell populations during active treatment.