# Remission

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/remission/  
OnCo record `remission` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

When the signs of cancer have shrunk (partial remission) or disappeared entirely (complete remission). It is not the same as cure, because cells too few to detect may remain.

## Summary

In blood cancers, complete remission has precise definitions (normal blood counts, fewer than 5% blasts in the marrow) and can be refined by measuring minimal residual disease; in solid tumours the equivalent language is complete or partial response on scans, or 'no evidence of disease' after surgery. Whether a remission becomes a cure is only known with time: for most cancers, five years without recurrence is a reasonable proxy, though late relapses occur in breast cancer and melanoma. Immunotherapy has introduced durable remissions in metastatic disease that behave like cures, and 'functional cure' describes long control without eradication.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: remissions; in remission; complete remission; partial remission; durable remission; durable remissions; cure; cured; curable; functional cure; no evidence of disease; NED; disease-free

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remission_(medicine)
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remission_(medicine)

## Connected records

- terms: [Complete response](https://onco.cc/terms/complete-response/), [Maintenance therapy](https://onco.cc/terms/maintenance-therapy/), [Minimal / molecular residual disease (MRD)](https://onco.cc/terms/mrd/), [Overall survival (OS)](https://onco.cc/terms/os/), [Partial response](https://onco.cc/terms/partial-response/), [Progression](https://onco.cc/terms/progression/), [Recurrence and relapse](https://onco.cc/terms/relapse-recurrence/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/remission.json