Info
Cancer cure
Treatment
What it means
The situation in which the cancer can no longer be detected on tests and does not come back over the following years. The word 'cure' is used cautiously in oncology, because some cancer cells can persist silently for many years. Doctors prefer to speak of complete remission.
Related terms
The terms below often appear alongside this one. Each definition is right here, so you do not have to look elsewhere.
- Remission
- The reduction or disappearance of the signs of cancer in response to treatment. Complete remission means that all signs have gone. Partial remission means that the tumor has shrunk significantly. It can be temporary or long-lasting.
- Adjuvant treatment
- Treatment given after surgery or after the main treatment to reduce the risk of recurrence. It may be chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy or targeted therapy, depending on the type of cancer.
- Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)
- A hormonal treatment that lowers the level of testosterone in the body or blocks its effect, used in hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. It can be done with medication (injections) or surgically.
Other terms in “Treatment”
Glossary definitions are written for patients by the OncoDots team and go through internal medical review. They explain terms; they do not establish a diagnosis and do not recommend a treatment.