In the medical world, definitions of chronic disease are varied, and work is being done to widen the umbrella of diseases that can be classified as chronic. This work is important because it creates a shared language for healthcare providers and patients.
Assurvivorshipincreases, more cancer patients will be living with cancer for longer periods of time. This may affect your view of the disease and your treatment plans. Often, this can be a positive thing. For example, HIV, once a fatal disease, is now considered chronic because treatments exist that extend the life expectancy of individuals who are HIV positive.
Not all cancers can be categorized as chronic, but those that are ongoing and can be watched and treated do become classified as chronic. Cancers such as ovarian, chronic leukemias, some lymphomas, and even some cancers that have spread or come back like metastatic breast or prostate also become chronic cancers.
While living with a chronic disease of any type can be difficult, the outlook for cancer patients living with chronic cancer is much better than it was years ago.
Life Expectancy After Cancer DiagnosisMore people are living longer with cancer. The overall cancer death rate in the U.S. is declining. From 2007 to 2017 cancer death rates decreased 15%.
Life Expectancy After Cancer Diagnosis
More people are living longer with cancer. The overall cancer death rate in the U.S. is declining. From 2007 to 2017 cancer death rates decreased 15%.
Chronic Disease Definition
While there is much overlap in the definition of chronic disease, there are still variations in these definitions among the world’s organizations that track disease statistics and provide information to those living with chronic disease. Each organization has their own definition when deciding how to categorize chronic disease.
World Health Organization
The WHO defines chronic diseases as non-communicable diseases that endure for long durations. They are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioral factors. By this definition, the WHO considers cancer to be a chronic disease.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The CDC defines chronic disease broadly as any condition that lasts one year or more and requires ongoing medical attention or limits activities of daily life or both. In the U.S., heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are some of the most common chronic diseases.
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society views cancer as a chronic disease when the cancer can be controlled with treatment, becomes stable, or reaches remission. Often, when cancer is considered chronic it will move from remission to recurrence and progression and back to remission.
Cancer then becomes a chronic condition that can be controlled with treatment. These treatments may include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation and are decided between patient and healthcare provider. When making these decisions, quality of life and probability of success are taken into consideration.
What Does Cancer Remission Really Mean?
U.S. National Center for Health Statistics
The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics defines a chronic disease as a disease that lasts three months or longer. As such, cancer is considered a chronic disease.
Can Cancer be Cured?While there is no cure for cancer, the prognosis can still be good. Most healthcare providers will not tell you that you are cured, even after long periods of remission, because there is a chance that cancer cells remain in your body and the cancer will return one day. In that sense, you are then living with a chronic disease but are not cured.
Can Cancer be Cured?
While there is no cure for cancer, the prognosis can still be good. Most healthcare providers will not tell you that you are cured, even after long periods of remission, because there is a chance that cancer cells remain in your body and the cancer will return one day. In that sense, you are then living with a chronic disease but are not cured.
Types of Cancer That Can Become Chronic
As treatments for cancer improve and survival rates increase more patients with cancer are living in the chronic phase of the disease. After an initial diagnosis of cancer, you may undergo treatment to control, stop, or remove the cancer. When these treatments are complete, you may go into remission or reach a stable state where the cancer isn’t spreading and can be monitored or treated.
At this point, you may consider your cancer as chronic.Much like patients who live with diabetes or heart disease, you will have a treatment and monitoring plan for the cancer. While you may never be fully cured, you may live a long life with the disease.
The most common types of chronic cancer are ovarian, breast, prostate, leukemia, and certain blood cancers. However, that is not to say that other cancers can’t be considered chronic. Living with cancer can be looked at as a continuum from diagnosis, to treatment, to ongoing observation and more treatment, to a final terminal phase. When cancer is considered chronic you are in a state where your cancer is either stable or controlled.
Chronic vs. Terminal IllnessChronic illnesses are diseases that can be managed over durations of time with medical treatment.Terminal illnessesare diseases that are irreversible and will result in death in the near future whether or not medical treatment is given.
Chronic vs. Terminal Illness
Chronic illnesses are diseases that can be managed over durations of time with medical treatment.Terminal illnessesare diseases that are irreversible and will result in death in the near future whether or not medical treatment is given.
Treatment of Chronic Cancer
As treatments have improved over the years, many people are living prolonged lives with cancer. A cancer diagnosis is no longer immediately considered a terminal illness, instead, many cancers can be considered chronic. In these cases, treatment should be looked at as a way to prolong and maintain quality of life.
If you look at cancer as a chronic disease you can view it as something that is manageable. The treatment of chronic cancer is varied based on individual goals and probable outcomes. The primary goal of treating chronic cancer is to manage the disease in a way that minimizes the negative effects on your life.
When you can look at cancer in much the same way an asthma patient looks at their disease—that there is no cure, but a way to manage the symptoms—you may be able to adapt a more positive outlook. When faced with a diagnosis that has no cure, learning to manage it in the long term can help you cope with uncertainty.
Treatment for chronic cancer is much the same as treatment for all cancers. The goal here is to minimize symptoms and improve quality and length of life. Depending on your specific cancer diagnosis, you may receive one or more of the following treatments, either concurrently, in succession, or spread out over time.
Surgery
Surgery is used to remove cancer from your body. This is often used on tumors or masses that can be easily taken out of the body. It can also be used to remove parts of tumors in order to make other treatment more effective. Sometimes surgery is used as a palliative treatment to remove tumors that are causing pain or pressure.
Radiation Therapy
How Cancer Is Treated
Chemotherapy
What to Expect With Chemotherapy
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy can help your immune system fight cancer. It is a biological therapy that boosts your own immune system’s ability to destroy cancer cells.
Immunotherapy for Cancer: What Are My Options?
Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy slows or stops the growth of cancers that use hormones to grow such asbreast cancerand prostate cancer. This therapy is used to prevent or ease symptoms in people with prostate cancer and can slow or stop cancer’s growth. It can also lessen the chance that the cancer will return.
Stem Cell Transplants
What to Expect From a Stem Cell Transplant
Whatever treatment plan you and your healthcare provider decide upon, remember that your cancer is a chronic disease and you’re not necessarily looking to eliminate it fully, but to live with it in a way that keeps your quality of life high.
Will Cancer Ever Be Cured?
16 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bernell S, Howard SW.Use your words carefully: What is a chronic disease?.Front Public Health. 4:159. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2016.00159American Cancer Society.Managing cancer as a chronic illness.National Cancer Institute.Annual Report to the Nation 2020: Special Topic: Progress toward Healthy People 2020 objectives.World Health Organization.Non communicable diseases.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About chronic diseases.National Health Council.About Chronic Diseases.National Cancer Institute.Understanding cancer prognosis.van Dipten C,Olde Hartman TC, Biermans MCJ, Assendelft WJJ.Substitution scenario in follow-up of chronic cancer patients in primary care: prevalence, disease duration and estimated extra consultation time,Family Practice, 33(1):4-9. doi:10.1093/fampra/cmv098Pizzoli SFM, Renzi C, et. al.From life-threatening to chronic disease: Is this the case of cancers? A systematic review,Cogent Psychology, 6:1. doi:10.1080/23311908.2019.1577593Hui D, Nooruddin Z, Didwaniya N, et al.Concepts and definitions for “actively dying,” “end of life,” “terminally ill,” “terminal care,” and “transition of care”: a systematic review.J Pain Symptom Manage. 47(1):77-89. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.02.021National Cancer Institute.Surgery for cancer.Radiation Therapy for Cancer. National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/radiation-therapy.National Cancer Institute.Chemotherapy to treat cancer.National Cancer Institute.Immunotherapy for cancer.National Cancer Institute.Hormone therapy for cancer.National Cancer Institute.Stem cell transplants in cancer treatment.
16 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bernell S, Howard SW.Use your words carefully: What is a chronic disease?.Front Public Health. 4:159. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2016.00159American Cancer Society.Managing cancer as a chronic illness.National Cancer Institute.Annual Report to the Nation 2020: Special Topic: Progress toward Healthy People 2020 objectives.World Health Organization.Non communicable diseases.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About chronic diseases.National Health Council.About Chronic Diseases.National Cancer Institute.Understanding cancer prognosis.van Dipten C,Olde Hartman TC, Biermans MCJ, Assendelft WJJ.Substitution scenario in follow-up of chronic cancer patients in primary care: prevalence, disease duration and estimated extra consultation time,Family Practice, 33(1):4-9. doi:10.1093/fampra/cmv098Pizzoli SFM, Renzi C, et. al.From life-threatening to chronic disease: Is this the case of cancers? A systematic review,Cogent Psychology, 6:1. doi:10.1080/23311908.2019.1577593Hui D, Nooruddin Z, Didwaniya N, et al.Concepts and definitions for “actively dying,” “end of life,” “terminally ill,” “terminal care,” and “transition of care”: a systematic review.J Pain Symptom Manage. 47(1):77-89. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.02.021National Cancer Institute.Surgery for cancer.Radiation Therapy for Cancer. National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/radiation-therapy.National Cancer Institute.Chemotherapy to treat cancer.National Cancer Institute.Immunotherapy for cancer.National Cancer Institute.Hormone therapy for cancer.National Cancer Institute.Stem cell transplants in cancer treatment.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Bernell S, Howard SW.Use your words carefully: What is a chronic disease?.Front Public Health. 4:159. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2016.00159American Cancer Society.Managing cancer as a chronic illness.National Cancer Institute.Annual Report to the Nation 2020: Special Topic: Progress toward Healthy People 2020 objectives.World Health Organization.Non communicable diseases.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About chronic diseases.National Health Council.About Chronic Diseases.National Cancer Institute.Understanding cancer prognosis.van Dipten C,Olde Hartman TC, Biermans MCJ, Assendelft WJJ.Substitution scenario in follow-up of chronic cancer patients in primary care: prevalence, disease duration and estimated extra consultation time,Family Practice, 33(1):4-9. doi:10.1093/fampra/cmv098Pizzoli SFM, Renzi C, et. al.From life-threatening to chronic disease: Is this the case of cancers? A systematic review,Cogent Psychology, 6:1. doi:10.1080/23311908.2019.1577593Hui D, Nooruddin Z, Didwaniya N, et al.Concepts and definitions for “actively dying,” “end of life,” “terminally ill,” “terminal care,” and “transition of care”: a systematic review.J Pain Symptom Manage. 47(1):77-89. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.02.021National Cancer Institute.Surgery for cancer.Radiation Therapy for Cancer. National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/radiation-therapy.National Cancer Institute.Chemotherapy to treat cancer.National Cancer Institute.Immunotherapy for cancer.National Cancer Institute.Hormone therapy for cancer.National Cancer Institute.Stem cell transplants in cancer treatment.
Bernell S, Howard SW.Use your words carefully: What is a chronic disease?.Front Public Health. 4:159. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2016.00159
American Cancer Society.Managing cancer as a chronic illness.
National Cancer Institute.Annual Report to the Nation 2020: Special Topic: Progress toward Healthy People 2020 objectives.
World Health Organization.Non communicable diseases.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About chronic diseases.
National Health Council.About Chronic Diseases.
National Cancer Institute.Understanding cancer prognosis.
van Dipten C,Olde Hartman TC, Biermans MCJ, Assendelft WJJ.Substitution scenario in follow-up of chronic cancer patients in primary care: prevalence, disease duration and estimated extra consultation time,Family Practice, 33(1):4-9. doi:10.1093/fampra/cmv098
Pizzoli SFM, Renzi C, et. al.From life-threatening to chronic disease: Is this the case of cancers? A systematic review,Cogent Psychology, 6:1. doi:10.1080/23311908.2019.1577593
Hui D, Nooruddin Z, Didwaniya N, et al.Concepts and definitions for “actively dying,” “end of life,” “terminally ill,” “terminal care,” and “transition of care”: a systematic review.J Pain Symptom Manage. 47(1):77-89. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.02.021
National Cancer Institute.Surgery for cancer.
Radiation Therapy for Cancer. National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/radiation-therapy.
National Cancer Institute.Chemotherapy to treat cancer.
National Cancer Institute.Immunotherapy for cancer.
National Cancer Institute.Hormone therapy for cancer.
National Cancer Institute.Stem cell transplants in cancer treatment.
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