tumoricidal

Tumoricidal is an adjective describing an agent, intervention, or process that can kill tumor cells. The term is commonly used in oncology to indicate a capacity to induce tumor cell death rather than merely inhibiting growth. It derives from tumor and cide (cidal, killing). In practice, tumoricidal effects may result from direct cytotoxicity causing apoptosis or necrosis, or from immune-mediated mechanisms that eliminate tumor cells.

In clinical contexts, many chemotherapy drugs, ionizing radiation, and certain targeted therapies are described as tumoricidal because they reduce tumor burden by killing cancer cells. However, some treatments have primarily cytostatic effects, slowing or halting replication without immediate cell death. Tumoricidal activity is typically demonstrated in preclinical models by assays of cell viability or clonogenic survival and in vivo by tumor regression or prolonged survival.

Limitations include that tumoricidal does not imply perfect selectivity for cancer cells; off-target toxicity to normal tissues is a major concern, and tumors can develop resistance. The term is most often used in research descriptions and in clinical language to characterize the mechanism of action rather than as a formal regulatory category.

See also: cytotoxicity, apoptosis, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy.