Antiquus amor cancer est.?

Question

what does that mean

Answer 1

"Sed antiquus amor cancer est."
The Satyricon XLII - Petronius

more or less literally
"an old love is a crab"

but more idiomatically, cancer in Latin is also used to mean several other things -
"In medicine, a crawling, eating, suppurating ulcer, malignant tumor, a cancer" - A Latin Dictionary. Founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary. revised, enlarged, and in great part rewritten by. Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D. and. Charles Short, LL.D. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1879

"crab; various diseases (tumors, cankers, gangrene, etc.)" - Word-List for Petronius's Cena Trimalchionis compiled by John Porter, University of Saskatchewan

translations vary
Friedlander "a gangrene" or "has a tight grip like a crab's claw"
Firebaugh "An old love's like a cancer!"
Allinson "Old love's an eating sore!"
Sullivan "An old passion is just an ulcer."
Ellis suggests " 'always retrograding like a crab.' It is to this sidelong almost receding movement of the crab that proverbial expressions in which this creature figures most generally refer."

hope this is of some assistance

Answer 2

An old love is like a crab

Answer 3

its latin for "an old love is like a crab."