The Princess of Wales has said her cancer is “in remission”. Here, the PA news agency answers questions about what this means for Kate. – What does ‘remission’ mean?. According to Cancer Research UK, remission means that there is no sign of cancer in a person’s body.
And if there are any cancer cells left there are too few to find; too few to cause any symptoms or they are in an inactive state and are not growing. – Does this mean Kate’s cancer won’t come back?. The truth is, we don’t know. And neither will the royal family.
There is a lot of uncertainty after cancer treatment, which can be troubling for those affected and their loved ones. The check-ups will likely be closer together initially and, after a time, the appointments will be fewer and farther between. – What do the experts say about remission?.
Caroline Geraghty, senior cancer information nurse at Cancer Research UK, told the PA news agency: “Remission means, after you’ve been treated for cancer, there is no evidence that there’s any cancer left.”. Asked about what it means for patients, she said: “I think for many people it’s relief, it’s relief to hear that word and for the doctor to explain to them, and possibly to show them a scan picture which shows the cancer is not there – that’s not appropriate for everyone, but for some people, it might be visualised for them on the scan, and to see that means so much.
“I think, if you’ve particularly had a difficult time with treatment, or you’ve gone through a lot of treatment – and it’s not just that physical impact it can have on you and all the side effects of the treatment that you’ve had to go through, but that turmoil it causes in your mind and the anxiety and the worry and the stress it causes you and your family and your loved ones – to hear the word remission kind of gives you, I suppose, a deep breath of relief.”.
