It's a word every cancer patient would love to hear: Remission. For many people, remission means that a cancer has been cured and beaten. They can't be faulted for thinking that, as anyone who has cancer will take any good news for all it's worth. But remission doesn't automatically mean that a cancer has truly been cured.
There are two types of remission: Partial and Complete. Partial remission means that the number of cancer cells in a patient has been noticeably lessened and some cancer symptoms yet remain. A complete remission means that the signs and symptoms of a cancer can no longer be detected. This can either mean that the cancer is truly gone, or may be present in another part of the body.
Whatever the real meaning of a remission is, it serves another purpose: Merely hearing it gives a patient hope. And that is perhaps the most important thing a patient can have.
