Princess Catherine, wife of Prince William, said on Tuesday that her cancer was in remission. But what does it mean to be in remission from cancer?
Last March, she revealed that doctors discovered her cancer unexpectedly when she had a tummy tuck. He has not disclosed the type of cancer he has or how advanced it was when it was discovered.
But he said he was undergoing chemotherapy, which he said was completed in September. He told British news agency PA Media that he had a port, a small device that is implanted under the skin and connected to a catheter that goes into a large vein. It allows drugs such as chemotherapy drugs to be given directly into the veins in the chest, avoiding needle sticks.
Catherine told PA Media that the chemotherapy was “really tough”.
“Relieved to be in remission now and staying focused on recovery,” she wrote on Instagram.
Her announcement “is definitely good news and it’s reassuring,” said Dr. Kimmie Ng, associate chief of gastrointestinal oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
But cancer experts like Dr. Ng say that a patient’s definition of remission can vary.
Generally, when doctors and patients talk about remission, they mean that there is no evidence of cancer on blood tests or scans.
The problem is that complete remission does not mean the cancer is gone. Even when a cancer is “cured”—defined as no evidence of cancer for five years—it may not be defeated.
This makes life emotionally difficult for patients, who must have frequent visits with oncologists for physical exams, blood tests, and imaging.
“It’s really scary,” said Dr Ng. “The amount of uncertainty is very, very difficult,” he added.
But this ongoing surveillance is necessary, despite the costs to patients.
“Different cancers have different tendencies to come back or not come back,” said Dr. Elena Ratner, a gynecologic oncologist at the Yale Cancer Center.
75 to 80 percent of ovarian cancers, he noted, can come back an average of 14 to 16 months after remission, depending on the stage the cancer was when it was found and the biology of the cancer.
“Once the cancer comes back, it becomes a chronic disease,” Dr. Ratner said. She tells her patients, “You’re going to live with this cancer. You will be on and off chemotherapy for the rest of your life.”
Dr. Ratner’s gynecologic cancer patients must return every three months for CT scans to monitor for signs that the cancer has returned.
“Women live CT to CT,” she said. “They say that for two and a half months they have a great life, but then, as time goes by for the next CT scan, the fear comes back.”
“It’s costing them — it’s costing them a lot,” he said.
“It’s awful, but I’m amazed every day by their strength,” she said of her patients.
