Kate Middleton's cancer is in remission. What does that mean?

AFTER ANNOUNCING IN MARCH 2024 THAT SHE HAD been diagnosed with cancer, Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, has provided a positive update on her illness. “It is a relief now to be in remission and I remain focused on recovery,” Middleton announced on X on Jan. 14.

- ALICE PARK

The statement 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 and the exact type of chemotherapy she used. And being in remission, while a positive development, comes with plenty of uncertainty.

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.