Adjuvant treatment is usually systemic, meaning a treatment that affects the entire body.
This allows the treatment to attack cancerous cells wherever they are present. The most common example of adjuvant therapy is chemotherapy given after a tumour has been surgically removed. A general anaesthetic makes the person unconscious. A local anaesthetic numbs the area where the surgery is to be performed. Local anaesthetics may be combined with sedatives to make a person relax and sleepy but not unconscious.