'cancerless' originates from Modern English compounding of the noun 'cancer' and the suffix '-less', where 'cancer' ultimately comes from Latin 'cancer' (meaning 'crab') and the suffix '-less' comes from Old English 'lēas' meaning 'free from' or 'without'.

'cancer' passed from Latin 'cancer' into Old French and then Middle English as 'cancer', with its sense shifting from 'crab' (a metaphorical image) to the disease; the adjectival suffix '-less' comes from Old English 'lēas' and developed into the modern productive suffix '-less', producing compounds like 'cancerless' in Modern English.

Initially, 'cancer' referred literally to a 'crab' and then metaphorically to the disease; over time the compound 'cancerless' came to mean 'without the disease of cancer' in contemporary usage.