AFTER CANCER: PARTIAL REMISSION. CURE
What Is a Response or a Partial Remission?
You have had a response, also called a partial remission, when tests indicate that you still have cancer but that you have gotten rid of at least half of your cancer. This can be determined through a comparison of the results of tests obtained before and after treatment. For example, the spots on your chest X ray may be 75 percent smaller (e.g., in lung cancer), or there may be 75 percent fewer cancer cells in the blood and bone marrow (e.g., in leukemia). Some doctors may use the term “response” or “partial remission” when there is any shrinkage of your cancer, but a less than 50 percent reduction in detectable cancer is not considered a meaningful improvement from an overall view of your cancer situation. Ask your doctors what they mean when they use the terms “response” and “partial remission.”
A cure is said to have occurred when there is no detectable sign of cancer and you have the same life expectancy as if you had never had cancer. For some cancers you have to be in complete remission for a year to be considered cured. For many others five years is the reliable interval after which your chance of recurrence is extremely low. Still others, such as certain types of lymphoma, are considered incurable, because no matter how long you live in complete remission there is still a significant chance the cancer will recur.
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