# Recurrence and relapse

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

## TL;DR

The cancer has come back after a period in which it could not be detected. 'Recurrence' is the usual word for solid tumours and 'relapse' for blood cancers; they mean the same thing.

## Summary

Recurrence can be local (at the original site), regional (in nearby lymph nodes) or distant (metastatic), and the interval before it is informative: early recurrence suggests aggressive, resistant disease, while late recurrence in breast cancer or melanoma reflects cells that lay dormant for years. It happens because microscopic disease survived the original treatment; adjuvant therapy exists to reduce this risk, and ctDNA tests after surgery can now detect the residual disease months before a scan would. Recurrent disease is treated according to where and when it returns, ranging from a second attempt at cure for an isolated local recurrence to systemic therapy for metastatic recurrence.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: recurrence; recurrences; recurrent; recurred; recurs; recur; relapse; relapsed; relapses; relapsing; relapsed/refractory; relapsed or refractory; R/R; local recurrence; distant recurrence; recurrent disease; recurrent cancer; came back

## Sources

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

## Connected records

- terms: [Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA)](https://onco.cc/terms/ctdna/), [Disseminated tumour cells (DTCs)](https://onco.cc/terms/disseminated-tumor-cells/), [Event-free / disease-free survival (EFS, DFS, iDFS, RFS)](https://onco.cc/terms/efs/), [Minimal / molecular residual disease (MRD)](https://onco.cc/terms/mrd/), [Neoadjuvant / adjuvant / perioperative](https://onco.cc/terms/neoadjuvant-adjuvant/), [Progression](https://onco.cc/terms/progression/), [Refractory](https://onco.cc/terms/refractory/), [Remission](https://onco.cc/terms/remission/), [Second cancers after treatment: what the risk is, and what is done about it](https://onco.cc/terms/rejuv-second-cancers-overview/), [What is not a second cancer: recurrence, metastasis and field cancerisation](https://onco.cc/terms/rejuv-second-what-is-not-a-second-cancer/)
- pathways: [Tumour dormancy](https://onco.cc/pathways/tumor-dormancy/)
- key papers: [Al-Hajj 2003: prospective identification of tumorigenic breast cancer cells](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-al-hajj-breast-cancer-stem-cells-pnas-2003/), [Bao 2006: glioma stem cells resist radiotherapy by activating the DNA damage response](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-bao-glioma-stem-cells-radioresistance-nature-2006/), [Reya 2001: stem cells, cancer and cancer stem cells](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-reya-cancer-stem-cells-nature-2001/)
- technologies: [Anxiety around scans, and what the evidence says about how often to scan](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-mind-scan-anxiety/), [Fear that the cancer will come back: how common it is, and when it stops being ordinary worry](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-mind-fear-of-recurrence/), [Treating fear of recurrence: the randomised trials, their effect sizes, and where the treatment is available](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-mind-fear-of-recurrence-treatment/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/relapse-recurrence.json