Although cancer recurrence is a common phenomenon, no known research has documented the psychosocial meaning of recurrence to the marital dyad. This article reports a descriptive correlational study about the meaning of cancer recurrence to patient and spouse and the communication they exchanged about it. Twenty-two subjects, 12 women with cancer recurrence and 10 spouses, participated in separate interviews and completed a standardized measure of marital adjustment. Findings indicated that cancer recurrence posed individual and family hardships: difficulties with closure; uncertainty; grief; feelings of injustice, fear, and anger; existential concerns; a concern with coping; family impact; and an absence of a communicated shared meaning between patient and spouse about the cancer recurrence. A substantial number of subjects stated they did not talk with their spouse about the recurrence. Furthermore, those who said they did talk about it did not share their spouse's meaning about the recurrence. Nevertheless, patients attributed a significant degree of support from spousal communication. The lack of a communicated shared meaning did not suggest dysfunction as measured by the marital adjustment scale. The findings suggest direction for nursing assessment and intervention.