Neoadjuvant vs Adjuvant
Difference Between Adjuvants and Neoadjuvants:
| Neoadjuvant Therapy | Adjuvant Therapy |
|---|---|
| If doctors deliver the therapy before the primary treatment, they refer to this as neoadjuvant therapy. | Adjuvant therapy is any therapeutic method used after the surgical resection of a cancerous tumor. |
| Neoadjuvant therapies are delivered before the main treatment, to help reduce the size of a tumor or kill cancer cells that have spread. | Adjuvant therapies are delivered after the primary treatment, to destroy the remaining cancer cells. |
| Neoadjuvant therapy includes: radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy | Adjuvant therapy includes radiation therapy, targeted therapy, biological therapy, etc. |
| Neoadjuvant therapy improves the success of the surgery. | Adjuvant therapy reduces the risk of recurrence. |
| The aim of neoadjuvant therapy is to reduce the size or extent of the tumor before the main intervention. | Adjuvant treatment is done to destroy cancer cells that may still be present in the body after this intervention. |