# Complete response

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/complete-response/  
OnCo record `complete-response` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

All detectable signs of the tumour have vanished on scans and examination after treatment. The best result a trial can record for an individual patient, though microscopic disease may remain.

## Summary

Under RECIST, complete response means every target lesion has disappeared and any lymph nodes have shrunk below 10 mm; it must be confirmed on a repeat scan. Complete responses are common in lymphomas and germ-cell tumours and were historically rare in solid tumours, so their appearance with immunotherapy and cell therapy (around 20% in metastatic melanoma with ipilimumab plus nivolumab, most of them lasting) was a genuine change. Pathologic complete response is the surgical equivalent: no cancer cells found in the removed tissue after pre-operative treatment.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: complete responses; CR; complete responder; complete responders; radiographic complete response; clinical complete response; cCR

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_evaluation_criteria_in_solid_tumors
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_evaluation_criteria_in_solid_tumors

## Connected records

- terms: [Duration of response](https://onco.cc/terms/duration-of-response/), [Objective response rate (ORR)](https://onco.cc/terms/orr/), [Partial response](https://onco.cc/terms/partial-response/), [Pathologic complete response (pCR)](https://onco.cc/terms/pcr/), [Progression](https://onco.cc/terms/progression/), [RECIST](https://onco.cc/terms/recist/), [Remission](https://onco.cc/terms/remission/), [Stable disease](https://onco.cc/terms/stable-disease/)
- cancers: [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/)
- key papers: [Lisocabtagene maraleucel for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphomas (TRANSCEND NHL 001): a multicentre seamless design study](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-transcend-nhl-001-liso-cel-lancet-2020/), [Nonoperative management of mismatch repair-deficient tumors](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-cercek-nonoperative-management-mismatch-repair-deficient-tumours-nejm-2025/), [Operative versus nonoperative treatment for stage 0 distal rectal cancer following chemoradiation therapy: long-term results](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-habr-gama-nonoperative-stage-0-rectal-ann-surg-2004/), [Phase II study of SMILE chemotherapy for newly diagnosed stage IV, relapsed, or refractory extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type: the NK-Cell Tumor Study Group study](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-smile-chemotherapy-nk-t-cell-lymphoma-jco-2011/), [ROSEWOOD: a phase II randomized study of zanubrutinib plus obinutuzumab versus obinutuzumab monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-rosewood-zanubrutinib-obinutuzumab-follicular-jco-2023/), [Safety and efficacy of odronextamab in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-elm-2-odronextamab-follicular-ann-oncol-2024/), [Therasse 2000: RECIST, the standard rules for measuring whether a tumour responds](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-therasse-recist-jnci-2000/), [Tisagenlecleucel in adult relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma: the phase 2 ELARA trial](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-elara-tisagenlecleucel-follicular-nat-med-2022/), [VCAP-AMP-VECP compared with biweekly CHOP for adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma: Japan Clinical Oncology Group Study JCOG9801](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jcog9801-vcap-amp-vecp-adult-t-cell-leukaemia-jco-2007/)
- trials: [ELARA](https://onco.cc/trials/elara/), [FORTplus](https://onco.cc/trials/fortplus/), [JCOG9801](https://onco.cc/trials/jcog9801/), [ROSEWOOD](https://onco.cc/trials/rosewood/), [SMILE](https://onco.cc/trials/smile-enktl/), [TRANSCEND NHL 001](https://onco.cc/trials/transcend-nhl-001/)
- people: [Angelita Habr-Gama](https://onco.cc/people/angelita-habr-gama/)

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