remission? what does it actually mean?

Question

having had breast cancer 3 years ago am i in remission, my hospital has never used this word to me.

thankyou to everyone and good luck to you all x

Answer 1

"Remission" Isn't that a dreadful term for a cancer patient! I hate it! Basically it is a term that is applied when all your treatment has finished and your particular cancer has been removed or is totally inactive, as far as can be determined through monitoring activities such as CT, PET scans and blood tests. It is a "let's wait and see what happens" state where by on going regular monitoring continues to see if the treatment was really successful or not. In round terms this state typically lasts for 5 years after which you are considered cured, or until it all starts again! Yeah right!

Basically you are in a state of what it is that you strongly believe to be in. Remission is just a term! For me, I try to consider myself cured as there is no more treatment, just on going monitoring, which will be life long.

"Be and do what you believe"

Answer 2

complete remission means that at this moment there is no evidence of any cancer when you are have your routine examination or scans or other tests - all evidence of cancer is gone. This does not necessarily mean that the cancer will never come back.

Perhaps your hospital uses the phrase 'no evidence of disease' or NED? It's the same thing.

Someone has mentioned that you are considered cured after five years; this is not the case with all cancers and is certainly not the case with breast cancer, which can recur at any time.

Answer 3

oncologists will not tell someone they are cured of cancer until they have been in remission for at least five years.
Remission is basically the cancer cells in the body are either irradicated or inactive, which means simply there is no cancer there to treat. This is why people who have had cancer have regular check ups after remission to check if it has stayed that way.

Answer 4

Oncologists are very sparing with the word 'cure', since cancer is so unpredictable. So, when a cancer has apparently responded to treatment and is, as far as it is possible to assess, under control, they use the word 'remission'.

If you are told that you are in remission, it means that you can breathe a cautious sigh of relief, but you will still be closely monitored. I do hope that they tell you that you ARE in remission soon.

Answer 5

Remission means the cancer is there but stopped growing or spreading.. they will keep an eye on you as remission means can return or comes back ..
best of luck xx

Answer 6

Remission means that you still have the disease but that it isn't active. Its possible that they use that term also until you have been w/o cancer for 5 yrs at which time you are considered cured. How about asking your dr?

Answer 7

It means that the root cause of the cancer has not been eliminated , or cured , but the progress has not resumed after treatment.
Many people who are declared as in remission can live out their lives without any further problem , as I hope you do .

Answer 8

it's like when it happened to my mum....she continued to worry...i read that your mind is very powerful for healing...and that negative and worrying thoughts can have an unwanted effect on your body....especially after a diagnosis of cancer....anyway, i got her this recording from a company called independent achievement productions called breast health...it's great she listened to it for a month...and now thinks nothing of cancer....she happily is staying in remission!

Answer 9

Remission (medicine), the state of absence of disease activity in patients with a chronic illness, with the possibility of return of disease activity.

Answer 10

Hi it means the cancer as stopped.You need to talk to your doctor.Good Luck