Medical Oncologist
Reading your scan results
Complete Response, Partial Response, Stable Disease: — What Your Scan Result Actually Means
When your scan comes back, the report will use one of a small number of standard terms. This page explains exactly what each one means and what it is likely to mean for your treatment.
Medically reviewed by Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy, Medical Oncologist, MBBS (Gold Medal) · DNB · DM (Medical Oncology, Gold Medal) · Last reviewed August 2026
- Terms, not verdicts — These words describe how your cancer responded to treatment. They are not a final prognosis.
- They drive decisions — Your oncologist uses these classifications to decide whether to continue, change, or pause your treatment.
- Stable is not failure — Stable disease often means treatment is controlling the cancer — that is a meaningful result.
- Shared worldwide — These terms come from international criteria so that a result in Hyderabad means the same as one anywhere else.
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A partial response means the cancer has shrunk noticeably on your scan but has not disappeared entirely. A complete response means no cancer is detectable. Stable disease means the cancer has neither grown nor shrunk significantly. Your oncologist uses these terms, drawn from international criteria, to decide whether your current treatment is working.
What each term means
- Complete Response (CR)
- No cancer can be detected on your scans or tests. This is the best result a scan can show in measurable terms. It does not necessarily mean the cancer can never return, and your team will continue to monitor you — but it means no disease is currently visible.
- Partial Response (PR)
- Your cancer has shrunk significantly compared to the previous scan, but some remains detectable. This means your treatment is having a measurable effect. Your oncologist will decide whether to continue the same treatment or adjust the plan.
- Stable Disease (SD)
- Your cancer has neither shrunk enough to be a response nor grown enough to be progression. This means your treatment is holding the cancer in check — for many cancers, this is exactly what successful long-term management looks like.
- Progressive Disease (PD)
- Your cancer has grown or spread since the last scan. This tells your oncologist that the current treatment is not working well enough and that a change of approach needs to be considered promptly.
- No Evidence of Disease (NED)
- No cancer can be found anywhere in your body on current scans and tests. It is used most often after surgery or when all known disease sites have been treated, and carries a similar meaning to complete response in those situations. Ongoing monitoring still continues.
What to ask when you get your scan result
- Ask your oncologist to state the result clearly — partial response, stable disease, or another term — rather than leaving you to interpret the report alone.
- Ask whether your treatment plan will continue unchanged, change, or stop based on this result.
- Ask when your next scan is planned and what it will specifically be looking for.
- Write down the result and your oncologist's explanation while you are still in the room.
- Ask whether there are new symptoms to watch for between now and your next scan.
- If the radiology report uses terms you do not recognise, ask your team to explain each one.
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MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
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MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
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MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
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Why stable disease is often better than it sounds
Many people feel disappointed when they hear 'stable disease' because they were hoping for 'shrinking'. But stable disease means the treatment is preventing the cancer from growing, and for many cancers that is exactly what successful long-term management looks like.
ESMO guidance recognises stable disease as a meaningful treatment outcome, not a neutral or failed one. Some treatments are specifically designed to hold cancer in check rather than to shrink it dramatically.
Ask your oncologist what stable disease means in the context of your cancer type and your treatment — the significance varies, and they can tell you whether this result is in line with what was expected.
Questions families ask most
Does partial response mean the cancer could still disappear completely?
It can. Some cancers that show a partial response on early scans go on to reach a complete response after further treatment cycles. Others remain in partial response for a long period. Your oncologist will tell you whether continuing the same treatment is expected to deepen the response, or whether reaching a plateau is the more likely course for your cancer type. The answer depends on the drug, the cancer, and how your particular tumour has behaved so far.
What happens after a complete response — do scans stop?
No. After a complete response, your oncologist will continue to monitor you with regular scans for a period that varies by cancer type and treatment. Some cancers can return even when no disease is currently detectable, and catching that early matters. The interval between scans usually lengthens over time if you remain in complete response. Your team will explain what the monitoring schedule looks like for your specific situation.
Can the same cancer show different responses in different parts of the body?
Yes, and this is called a mixed response. It happens when one area of disease shrinks while another grows or stays the same. It is more common with some treatments than others, and it presents a genuinely difficult decision about whether to continue, switch, or combine treatments. Your oncologist will weigh the overall picture rather than looking at each site in isolation. If your scan shows mixed results, ask your team to walk you through what each site is doing and what the overall classification means.
My report says 'no evidence of disease' — is that the same as complete response?
They describe a similar state but are used in slightly different ways. Complete response is a formal classification tied to specific measurement criteria, typically used when cancer was measurable on previous scans and is now undetectable. No evidence of disease is more commonly used after surgery where all visible tumour has been removed, or when the cancer was not measurable in the same way. In both cases, no cancer is found on current testing, and both require ongoing monitoring. Ask your oncologist which applies to your situation and what the follow-up plan is.
The radiologist's report uses different words from what my oncologist told me — which is right?
Both are likely correct, just answering different questions. The radiologist describes what they see on the scan in technical detail — measuring tumour sizes, noting new or resolved areas, comparing to prior imaging. Your oncologist then interprets those measurements against your treatment history and response criteria to give you the clinical classification: partial response, stable disease, and so on. The radiology report is the raw data; your oncologist's interpretation is the clinical meaning. If the two seem to contradict each other, ask your oncologist to explain how they arrived at their conclusion from the radiologist's findings.
Did you know?
The system used worldwide to classify tumour response — called RECIST, or Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours — was established so that a 'partial response' measured in Hyderabad means exactly the same thing as one measured in London or New York.
Without that shared standard, comparing results across hospitals or clinical trials would be impossible, and the terms on your report would carry no consistent meaning.
Source: RECIST 1.1 — Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours, published by ESMO and adopted internationally
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Common questions
Frequently asked questions
What is partial response in cancer?
Partial response means your cancer has shrunk significantly on your scan compared to when treatment began, but some disease is still detectable. It is a meaningful positive result — it tells your oncologist the treatment is having a measurable effect. Some partial responses deepen to complete responses with continued treatment. Your oncologist will use this result to decide whether to continue the same approach, run more cycles before reassessing, or consider adjustments to the plan.
Does stable disease mean my treatment is not working?
Stable disease does not mean your treatment is failing — for many cancer types it means the treatment is working exactly as intended. Stable disease means the cancer has not grown, which for many cancers is exactly what a successful treatment achieves over time. Some cancers are managed over months or years with a treatment that holds them in check rather than shrinking them. What stable disease means for your situation depends on your cancer type and what was expected — ask your oncologist whether this result is in line with the plan.
How is a complete response confirmed?
A complete response is confirmed when your scans and any relevant blood or tissue tests show no detectable cancer. The specific tests depend on your cancer type — for some, a PET-CT is part of the confirmation; for others, CT alone or blood markers are sufficient. Your oncologist will tell you which tests were used and what they showed. Some oncologists repeat the assessment after a short interval before formally recording a complete response.
What happens if my scan shows progressive disease?
Progressive disease means the current treatment is not adequately controlling your cancer, and your oncologist will discuss moving to a different approach. That conversation will cover what the alternatives are, what each is expected to achieve, and whether further tests — such as a new biopsy for biomarker testing — might open up additional options. Progression on one treatment does not mean options have run out; many people move to second or third-line treatments that work well.
How often are scans done to check treatment response?
Scans to check response are typically done after a set number of treatment cycles, not at fixed calendar intervals — the exact timing depends on your cancer type and treatment protocol. Your team will tell you how many cycles will run before the first assessment scan and what the schedule looks like after that. If you are unsure when your next scan is planned, ask at your next appointment so you have a clear timeline.
Can a partial response become a complete response over time?
Yes. For some cancers and treatments, continuing therapy after a partial response leads to a deeper response, including complete response. Whether that is likely depends on the drug being used, your cancer type, and how quickly and strongly the tumour has responded so far. Your oncologist will tell you whether deepening is expected with continued treatment and how many more cycles are planned before the next reassessment scan.