Can Cancer Be Cured? Remission, Survival and Survivorship

Overview

After a cancer diagnosis, many people want to know whether treatment will get rid of the cancer, how long they are likely to live, and what life will be like now. This topic explains what doctors mean by cure, remission, survival statistics and cancer survivor.

What "Cure" Means

A cure means no trace of the cancer is left after treatment — sometimes called NED, "no evidence of disease" — and the cancer is not expected to come back. But no doctor can be sure a cancer will never return, and it usually takes time to know. The longer you stay cancer-free, the better the chance it will not return. Cancer that comes back is called a recurrence. Most recurrences happen within the first 5 years, but later ones are possible, and some doctors call a cancer cured if it has not returned by 5 years. "Cure" is a hard word to use with cancer, because a few cancer cells can remain after tests show none, and they can cause a return weeks, months or years later.

What Remission Means

When tests cannot find cancer, doctors more often say it is "in remission" rather than "cured." Remission is a time when the cancer is responding to treatment or is under control — it does not always mean cured. In complete remission, all signs of cancer are gone and tests find no cancer cells. In partial remission, the cancer shrinks but does not go away. A remission can last from weeks to years, and treatment may or may not continue during it, depending on the cancer. If the cancer returns, more treatment may bring another remission.

What Survival Statistics Mean

Statistics describe what happened to large groups of people with the same diagnosis. They cannot predict what will happen to one person, but they can give an idea of what to expect.

• Survival rate — the percentage of people alive at a set time after diagnosis.
• Overall survival rate — the percentage of people with a given type and stage of cancer who are alive at a set time after diagnosis.
• Cancer-specific survival rate — the percentage of people with a given type and stage who have not died from their cancer at a set time after diagnosis.
• 5-year relative survival rate — the percentage alive 5 years after diagnosis, leaving out people who die of other causes.

Survival rates can cover any length of time, but researchers and doctors usually look at 5-year relative survival.

What a Cancer Survivor Is

The American Cancer Society calls anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer a cancer survivor, wherever they are in their illness. Survivorship looks different for each person. You may be cancer-free but live with late or long-term side effects. You may go into complete remission and later need treatment again for a recurrence. Or you may live with cancer as a chronic condition and keep having treatment to control it. Everyone diagnosed with cancer has their own long-term needs, and taking steps to live well after cancer can help you feel better and improve your long-term health. Not everyone likes the word "survivor," and each person has the right to describe their own experience.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

• Is the goal of my treatment to cure my cancer, or to control it?
• If tests find no cancer after treatment, will you call it a cure or a remission, and why?
• What is the 5-year relative survival rate for my type and stage, and how well does it apply to me?
• How likely is my cancer to come back, and how will you watch for a recurrence?
• Which late or long-term side effects should I watch for after treatment?

Source: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/understanding-cancer/can-cancer-be-cured.html