Is a 'complete remission' of cancer the same thing as a 'cure'?

Is a 'complete remission' of cancer the same thing as a 'cure'?

Jay M. Lee (Surgical Director, Thoracic Oncology Program, UCLA) gives expert video advice on: Is a 'complete remission' of cancer the same thing as a 'cure'?; Is it possible to regain the same aerobic fitness I had before lung cancer? and more...

Remission implies response to therapy. Remission is a term that's described to characterize the tumor as it shrinks in response to treatment. There's partial and complete remission, depending on where the residual tumor is present. It is a partial remission versus a complete remission where there's no detectable cancer that's present. Cure implies that there's absolutely no cancer that's present. We stay away from the term cure for lung cancer because it's an aggressive cancer, and because the recurrence rates are around 30%. Also, second lung primaries can occur in about 30% of patients. Therefore, in lung cancer treatment and management we don't use the term sure, but rather remission.