curable

Curable is an adjective used in medicine and public health to describe a disease or condition that can be eliminated from the body, leaving no ongoing disease or condition related to it, and for which there is an evidence-based expectation of long-term freedom from the illness after treatment.

Whether a disease is considered curable depends on diagnosis, stage, treatment options, and follow-up time. In many contexts, cure implies no detectable disease after treatment and no relapse over a clinically meaningful interval, though the length of that interval varies by condition and medical consensus.

Examples include many bacterial infections that respond to antibiotics and certain viral infections that can be eradicated or rendered undetectable with therapy, such as hepatitis C. Some cancers are declared curable when patients remain disease-free for a predefined period after effective treatment, such as certain leukemias or early-stage testicular cancer. Immunization and public health efforts can also shift the perception of curability by preventing disease entirely or interrupting transmission.

Not all diseases are curable. Some are treatable or manageable; for others, there may be no cure at present, or cures may depend on factors like early detection or long-term management. Advances in medicine continually redefine curability as survival data mature and relapse risks become clearer. The term does not guarantee success for every patient and is often used in conjunction with metrics such as remission or disease-free intervals.

Related concepts include remission, cure versus control, and curability as a statistical measure in clinical trials.