When is cancer remission

If you find that the side effects start to become too much for you, talk to your doctor. They may take you off maintenance therapy. For some people, cancer remission can last a lifetime.

Others may have their cancer come back, which is called a recurrence. The chance of recurrence depends on many things, including the type of cancer you had, what stage the cancer was found in, and your overall health. However, cancers that was diagnosed in later stages or cancers with lymph node involvement are more likely to recur.

Staying healthy is the best way to reduce your risk of a recurrence or a second cancer. This means:. The outlook also depends on cancer type. A relative survival rate compares people with the same type and stage of cancer to people in the overall population.

No matter what type of cancer you have, early detection of recurrence is very important. If found early, local recurrences may be curable.

A distant recurrence is less likely to be cured, but early detection can help stop it from spreading further. Your surgeon may recommend more treatment if they feel that there is a risk that the cancer could come back. This is sometimes called adjuvant treatment. The extra treatment might be chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy or a targeted cancer drug. These treatments aim to try to control or kill any cancer cells left.

You can read about surgery for cancer. Cancer may sometimes come back after cancer drug treatment or radiotherapy. This can happen because the treatment didn't destroy all the cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells by attacking cells that are in the process of doubling to form 2 new cells. But not all the cells in a cancer divide at the same time. Normal cells go into a long rest period between divisions. Cancer cells do too, although the rest period may be much shorter.

Giving chemotherapy in a series of treatments helps to catch as many cells dividing as possible. Cells that were resting when you had your first treatment, may be dividing when you have your next and so will be more likely to die. But it is unlikely that any chemotherapy treatment kills every single cancer cell in the body.

Doctors try to reduce the number of cancer cells as much as possible. The immune system kills off the remaining cells or they may die off. You might find it helpful to read more about how chemotherapy works.

Radiotherapy makes small breaks in the DNA inside the cells. These breaks stop cancer cells from growing and dividing and often make them die. Normal cells close to the cancer can also become damaged by radiation, but most recover and go back to working normally. If radiotherapy doesn't kill all of the cancer cells, they will regrow at some point in the future.

We have more information about radiotherapy treatment. Immunotherapy or targeted cancer drugs Immunotherapy uses our immune system to fight cancer.

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This content does not have an Arabic version. See more conditions. When cancer returns: How to cope with cancer recurrence. Products and services. When cancer returns: How to cope with cancer recurrence Use lessons from your initial treatment to give you confidence and strength as you face the anger and fear that come with a cancer recurrence.

By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references When cancer returns.

National Cancer Institute. Accessed Sept. Dealing with cancer recurrence. Moynihan TJ expert opinion. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. See also Adjuvant therapy for cancer After a flood, are food and medicines safe to use? Alternative cancer treatments: 10 options to consider Atypical cells: Are they cancer? Risk Factors. Cancer Prevention Overview. Cancer Screening Overview. Screening Tests.

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Questions to Ask About Cancer. Choices for Care. Talking about Your Advanced Cancer. Planning for Advanced Cancer. Advanced Cancer and Caregivers. Questions to Ask about Advanced Cancer. Managing Cancer Care. Finding Health Care Services.

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Emotional Support for Young People with Cancer. Cancers by Body Location. Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Treatment. Pediatric Supportive Care. Rare Cancers of Childhood Treatment. Childhood Cancer Genomics. Study Findings. Metastatic Cancer Research. Intramural Research. Extramural Research. Cancer Research Workforce. Partners in Cancer Research. What Are Cancer Research Studies. Research Studies. Get Involved.