Chemoprevention or chemoprophylaxis refers to the administration of a medication for the purpose of preventing disease or infection.
[citation needed] In familial adenomatous polyposis physicians observed polyps regression with NSAIDs for anti-inflammatory therapy.
[citation needed] Chemoprophylaxis is also used to treat several different varieties of meningococcal infections for close contact exposure to Neisseria meningitidis.
[citation needed] The World Health Organization recommends chemoprevention to prevent Malaria in the Sahel region of Sub-Saharan Africa through the use of the drugs sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine and amodiaquine.
[6] Anand Reddi proposed a role for the antidiabetes drug metformin as a chemoprevention agent for skin cancer.