Can Cancer Be Cured?

When you are told you have cancer, you may wonder if your treatment will get rid of your cancer, how long you are likely to live, and what your life will be like now that you have cancer.

What does “cure” mean?

A cure means that there are no traces of your cancer after treatment (you might hear this called NED or no evidence of disease), and your cancer is not expected to come back. But there’s no way a doctor can be sure your cancer will never come back. In most cases, it takes time to know if the cancer might come back.

The longer you are cancer-free, the better the chance that your cancer will not come back. When cancer comes back, it is called a recurrence. Most cancers come back within the first 5 years, but recurrence is still possible after 5 years. Some doctors consider a cancer “cured” if it hasn’t come back by then.

Using the word "cure" with cancer is tricky.  Even if tests show that your cancer is gone, you might still have a few cancer cells in your body after treatment. These cells might cause your cancer to return weeks, months, or even years later.

What is remission?

More often, when cancer can’t be found on tests, doctors will say the cancer is “in remission,” rather than “cured.” Remission is the period of time your cancer is responding to treatment or is under control. Some people think that remission means the cancer has been cured, but that might not be the case.  

• In complete remission, all the signs of cancer go away, and cancer cells can’t be found on any tests.
• In partial remission, the cancer shrinks but doesn’t completely go away.

Remissions can last anywhere from weeks to years. Treatment may or may not continue during a remission, depending on the type of cancer.  If the cancer returns (recurrence), another remission may be possible with more treatment.

What do survival statistics mean?

When learning they have cancer, many people want to know what their chance of survival is. While there are many factors that go into an answer, there are statistics that may help.

Statistics describe what happens to large groups of people with the same diagnosis. While statistics don’t focus on a specific person, they might give you some idea of what to expect.

Here are some statistics that are used for cancer:

• Survival rate: The percentage of people who are alive at a certain time after diagnosis.
• Overall survival rate: The percentage of people with a certain type and stage of cancer who are alive at a certain time after diagnosis.
• Cancer-specific survival rate: The percentage of people with a certain type and stage of cancer who have not died from their cancer at a certain time after diagnosis.
• 5-year relative survival rate: The percentage of people who will be alive 5 years after diagnosis. This does not include people who die f other reasons.

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

What is a cancer survivor?

The American Cancer Society describes a cancer survivor as anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer no matter where they are in the course of their disease.    

Being a cancer survivor means something different for each person. You might be cancer-free but have some late or long-term side effects. You might have gone into a complete remission after treatment, but then the cancer comes back and needs to be treated again. Or you might be living with cancer as a chronic condition and need to continue treatment to control your cancer. But all people who have been diagnosed with cancer have unique long-term needs. Taking steps to live well after cancer can help you feel better and improve your long-term health.

Not everyone likes being called a cancer survivor, but each person has the right to define their experience with cancer. So, anyone who calls themselves a cancer survivor, from diagnosis through the rest of their life, should be considered one.