The short answer
Remission means the signs and symptoms of cancer have decreased or disappeared. Recurrence means cancer has come back after a period of not being detected. Follow-up care watches for recurrence and helps manage health after treatment.
Remission means the signs and symptoms of cancer have decreased or gone away.
In complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared, although cancer cells may still be in the body. In partial remission, the cancer has decreased in size or extent.
Remission is not always the same as cure. After 5 years or more in complete remission, some doctors may say you are cured, but they cannot say for sure.
Recurrence means cancer has come back after not being detected for a time.
Watch: Remission vs. cure
50 sec · Captioned · Remission and cure mean different things — and time is what separates them.
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This page is for people finishing cancer treatment and those who care for them. It explains remission, recurrence, follow-up care, and when to get help sooner.
The simple version
After treatment, two words come up a lot: remission and recurrence. Remission means the cancer has decreased or disappeared. Recurrence means it has come back. Understanding both helps make sense of follow-up care.
What remission means
Remission comes in two forms. In a complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared. Cancer cells may still be in the body. In a partial remission, the cancer has decreased in size or extent. Remission is good news, though it is not always the same as cure.
NCI says some doctors may say you are cured after 5 years or more in complete remission. But some cancer cells can stay in the body for many years. So doctors cannot say for sure that you are cured.
In complete remission, all signs and symptoms are gone. In partial remission, the cancer has decreased.
What recurrence means
Recurrence means cancer has come back after a period when it could not be detected. It can return in the same place, nearby, or in a distant part of the body. For cancers that return, most do so within the first 5 years after treatment. But cancer can come back later.
Why follow-up matters
Follow-up care watches for recurrence, manages any late effects of treatment, and supports overall health. A survivorship care plan lays out which check-ups and tests you need and when.
When planned treatment is ending, bring questions to ask at the end of treatment. If cancer does come back, start with When Cancer Comes Back.
When to get help sooner
You do not have to wait for your next scheduled visit.
- Call 911 or go to an emergency department if you develop new back or neck pain with numbness or weakness in your legs, trouble moving your legs, loss of control of urine or stool, or trouble passing urine. ACS calls cancer pressing on the spinal cord an oncology emergency. It can lead to paralysis if not treated right away. Do not drive yourself.
- Call 911 or go to an emergency department if you have chest pain, sudden breathlessness, or you cough up blood; if you have a sudden severe headache, a seizure, new confusion, face droop or one-sided weakness; or if bleeding is heavy and will not stop. Do not drive yourself.
- Call your care team right away if you have new pain that is severe, a new lump or swelling, or bleeding you cannot explain. Also call right away for any new symptom that will not go away. Examples are lasting fatigue, weight you are losing without trying, changes in bladder or bowel habits, or trouble sleeping, concentrating, or remembering. NCI says to report problems between visits right away.
- Still getting chemotherapy? Call your team right away, day or night, for a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher. Also call for chills or any other sign of infection, even with a normal temperature.
- Tell your team too if you feel very anxious or low, or if you start a new medicine, vitamin, or supplement. These belong in your follow-up plan as well.
Ask your team directly which symptoms they want to hear about, and how to reach them between visits.
Sources
- National Cancer Institute — Coping: Follow-Up Medical Care
- National Cancer Institute — Recurrent Cancer
- National Cancer Institute — Cancer Survivorship
- National Cancer Institute — Understanding Prognosis: Cure and Remission
- National Cancer Institute — Dictionary of Cancer Terms: remission
- American Cancer Society — Bone Metastases (spinal cord compression)
- CDC — Stroke Signs and Symptoms
- CDC — Watch Out for Fever (Preventing Infections in Cancer Patients)
- National Cancer Institute — Infection and Neutropenia during Cancer Treatment
Common questions
What does remission mean?
Remission means the signs and symptoms of cancer have decreased or disappeared. In a complete remission, all signs and symptoms have disappeared, although cancer cells may still be in the body. In a partial remission, the cancer has decreased in size or extent.
Is remission the same as cure?
Not always. NCI says cure means there are no traces of the cancer after treatment and it will never come back. If you stay in complete remission for 5 years or more, some doctors may say you are cured. Still, some cancer cells can stay in the body for many years. So doctors cannot say for sure that cancer will not return.
What is recurrence?
Recurrence means cancer has come back after a period when it could not be detected. It can return in the same place, nearby, or in another part of the body.
Why is follow-up care important?
Follow-up care checks for recurrence, manages any late effects of treatment, and supports overall health. A survivorship care plan lays out the schedule.
Questions to ask your doctor
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Get urgent help
Fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher during chemo, severe pain, or trouble breathing: call your cancer care team right away, day or night. Call 911 for an emergency.
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Last updated: 2026-09-29Next planned review: 2028-07-07
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Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes, and this is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and then compared with the sources listed on it, looking for statements those sources do not back up. That check is not a sentence-by-sentence record and can miss errors. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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