To save this word, you'll need to log in.
neo·ad·ju·vant | \ ˌnē-ō-ˈa-jə-vənt 
\
\Definition of neoadjuvant
medical
: of, relating to, or being treatment (such as chemotherapy or hormone therapy) administered before primary cancer treatment (such as surgery) to enhance the outcome of primary treatment
In certain breast cancer, neoadjuvant therapies reduce recurrences by 50 percent in some situations.— Jen Waters The use of preoperative (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy before resection of the primary pulmonary tumor is controversial, and data are lacking to guide clinicians.— Michael Lanuti et al. — compare adjuvant entry 1 sense 2
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on neoadjuvant
What made you want to look up neoadjuvant? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
A More Exception(al) Quiz
- Which of the following words is not a synonym for ‘a young person’?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
Share neoadjuvant
Time Traveler for neoadjuvant
The first known use of neoadjuvant was in 1984
See more words from the same year