Kate Middleton Says Her Cancer Is in Remission. Here’s What That Means

14 Jan 2025, 23:04 by Alice Park · TIME

By Alice Park
January 14, 2025 6:04 PM EST

After announcing in March 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer, Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, has again spoken out about her illness—this time, with good news. “It is a relief now to be in remission and I remain focused on recovery,” Middleton announced on X on Jan. 14.

The remission announcement comes a few months after she revealed in September that she had completed chemotherapy treatment.

There's still a lot we don't know about the Princess's case, including what type of cancer she had. Here's what it means to be in remission from cancer.

Defining "remission"

Cancer remission means that doctors have successfully reduced the signs and symptoms of cancer—in some cases, to undetectable levels. "Remission quite simply means that at that point, there is no detectable sign that cancer is in the body on all of the tests we have done," says Dr. Sikander Ailawadhi, an oncologist and professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic. That doesn’t necessarily mean the cancer is completely gone, but it does mean that doctors can't find it after thoroughly testing for it.

"The word remission is a very, very tricky word," says Dr. Marleen Meyers, professor of medicine and director of the survivorship program at the Perlmutter Cancer Center of NYU Langone Health. "The common use of the word—even among oncologists, if they say someone is in remission—is that it means we have knowledge that it could come back, but at the moment, there is no evidence of cancer."

The way the term "remission" is used can vary "from person to person and, really, physician to physician," says Dr. Christopher Flowers, chair of the department of lymphoma and myeloma and head of the division of cancer medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The National Cancer Institute, for example, defines two types of remission: partial and complete. In complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared, the agency says, while in partial remission, the cancer may be reduced but remain in the body. (It's not clear from Middleton's post which kind of remission her cancer is in.) If people remain in complete remission for at least five years, it could mean they have been cured of their cancer.

"You have to have complete remission to be cured," says Dr. Larry Norton, an oncologist and medical director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, "but complete remission doesn't guarantee that you're cured."

Can cancer return after remission?

Cancer is notorious for recurring—even after remission—and some types are more likely to do so than others. "Certain kinds of cancers, such as glioblastoma multiforme [a brain cancer]—even if it's gone, it's going to come back very soon," says Ailawadhi. "Similarly, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, and ovarian cancers have a very high risk of coming back—despite treatment, despite complete responses, despite remission." Small numbers of cancerous cells that doctors can’t detect may start growing at any time. Most patients will continue to work with their doctors to monitor for any signs of these recurrences.

"I tell my patients that remission is an important milestone on the cancer journey to know you are on the pathway to cure," says Flowers. "It's the most positive first step to be in remission."

For now, the Princess says she is “looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead,” and thanked the staff at the Royal Marsden Hospital, where she was treated, for “looking after me so well during the past year.” The Princess has limited her royal duties since her diagnosis, but recently appeared at the family’s annual Christmas Day service in Sandringham and hosted the “Together at Christmas” carol service at Westminster Abbey in early December.