Carol,

A couple of doctors said I was "cured" (in the definitional sense) after 5 years without a recurrence. However, I'm not sure anyone ever feels permanently cured after this kind of illness.

My insurance agent also said I was "cured" after 5 years in the sense that he could sell me a policy at that point -- I wasn't buying.

The NCI website has a dictionary section that doesn't say much about "cure" other than a very generic definition. It does describe remission as a period of time without evidence of any symptoms of the disease.

I've never heard anyone talk in terms of "controlling" oral cancer, which sounds to me like trying to keep it at a minimal, survivable level. That seems to me to be totally inconsistent with the way this illness operates.

Cathy