

Human: What does it mean when cancer is in remission?

Assistant: Hi, there. It depends on what kind of cancer we’re talking about, but in general, that means that the tumor or growth in question isn’t any longer detectable using some means of medical imaging.  It could be that the cancer is now dormant, or non-cancerous, or that it’s been destroyed.  But we also don’t know if the patient is no longer at risk, or if it will recur later.


Human: What does it mean when cancer is in remission?

Assistant: Does it have to mean something in particular?  As a chemist, I might imagine it’s a shorthand for “the cancerous cell population has been suppressed”, but there’s no single definition.
What does it mean when cancer is in remission?
Hi, there. It depends on what kind of cancer we’re talking about, but in general, that means that the tumor or growth in question isn’t any longer detectable using some means of medical imaging.  It could be that the cancer is now dormant, or non-cancerous, or that it’s been destroyed.  But we also don’t know if the patient is no longer at risk, or if it will recur later.
Does it have to mean something in particular?  As a chemist, I might imagine it’s a shorthand for “the cancerous cell population has been suppressed”, but there’s no single definition.