The purpose of this presentation is to summarize briefly the evidence, much of it recent and direct, that the most prominent lesion components of the advanced atherosclerotic plaques in experimental animals, namely the necrotic center and the intracellular lipid, can undergo substantial regression. Some of the data will be reviewed indicating that this improvement of lesions in size, consistency and safety is due to a combination of remodeling, regression and healing. The recent evidence will be included indicating that human lesions can also respond favorably to the same rigorous serum cholesterol lowering regimens that lead to improvement of the advanced monkey and swine plaques.