Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Español
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

pathologic complete remission

(PA-thuh-LAH-jik kum-PLEET reh-MIH-shun)
The lack of all signs of cancer in tissue samples removed during surgery or biopsy after treatment with radiation or chemotherapy. To find out if there is a pathologic complete remission, a pathologist checks the tissue samples under a microscope to see if there are still cancer cells left after the anticancer treatment. Knowing if the cancer is in pathologic complete remission may help show how well treatment is working or if the cancer will come back. Also called pathologic complete response.
Search NCI's Dictionary of Cancer Terms