Survival

Last Updated:

January 2017

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For cancers diagnosed in 2008, 68.9% survived the cancer for at least five years.

Summary graph for Survival, Click to see detailed view of graph

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Summary graph for Survival, Click to see detailed view of graph

Introduction

Advances in the ways that cancer is diagnosed and treated have increased the number of people who live disease-free for long periods of time. This report looks at trends in 5-year survival rates for cancer, the time period traditionally associated with good prognosis. However, some people will experience a recurrence of their cancer after 5 years.

Measure

Five-year relative cancer survival: The proportion of patients surviving cancer 5 years after diagnosis calculated in the absence of other causes of death. This  percentage is the proportion of observed survivors in a cohort of cancer patients to the proportion of expected survivors.

Five-year cause specific survival: The proportion of patients surviving a specified cause of death 5 years after diagnosis. Deaths from other causes are not considered cause-specific deaths.

This report shows survival for cancers of the prostate, female breast, colon/rectum, and lung/bronchus. It also shows survival for all cancers combined.

Healthy People 2020 Target

  • Increase the proportion of cancer survivors who are living 5 years or longer after diagnosis to 71.7 percent.

Healthy People 2020 is a set of goals set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Data Source

SEER Program, National Cancer Institute, 1975–2008 with follow-up through 2013.

Trends and Most Recent EstimatesHelp with navigating the graphs and data tables

All Cancer Sites Combined

By Sex
5-year relative survival for all cancer sites combined by sex, 1975-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for all cancer sites combined by sex, 1975-2008 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 68.9 (68.6 - 69.2)
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 69.4 (68.9 - 69.9)
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 68.3 (67.9 - 68.8)
By Race/Ethnicity
5-year cause-specific survival for all cancer sites combined by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year cause-specific survival for all cancer sites combined by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 68.9 (68.7 - 69.2)
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 69.6 (69.3 - 69.8)
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 63.9 (63.1 - 64.7)
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 68.3 (67.5 - 69.0)
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 66.9 (66.1 - 67.7)
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 57.4 (54.2 - 60.6)

Top Cancer Sites

Comparison of Top Cancer Sites
5-year relative survival for the most common cancers, 1975-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for the most common cancers, 1975-2008 Colon and RectumClick to see the detailed trend graph for Colon and Rectum 67.2 (66.1 - 68.4)
Lung and BronchusClick to see the detailed trend graph for Lung and Bronchus 18.7 (18.0 - 19.5)
Female BreastClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female Breast 90.6 (89.9 - 91.2)
ProstateClick to see the detailed trend graph for Prostate 99.1 (98.7 - 99.6)
Colon and Rectum Cancer by Sex
5-year relative survival for colon and rectum cancer by sex, 1975-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for colon and rectum cancer by sex, 1975-2008 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 67.2 (66.1 - 68.4)
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 67.5 (65.9 - 69.1)
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 67.0 (65.4 - 68.6)
Colon and Rectum Cancer by Race/Ethnicity
5-year cause-specific survival for colon and rectum cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year cause-specific survival for colon and rectum cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 67.2 (66.4 - 68.0)
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 67.5 (66.6 - 68.4)
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 59.9 (57.3 - 62.4)
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 66.6 (64.2 - 69.0)
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 70.8 (68.5 - 73.0)
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 67.7 (58.9 - 76.6)
Lung and Bronchus Cancer by Sex
5-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer by sex, 1975-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer by sex, 1975-2008 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 18.7 (18.0 - 19.5)
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 16.7 (15.7 - 17.7)
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 21.0 (19.8 - 22.1)
Lung and Bronchus Cancer by Race/Ethnicity
5-year cause-specific survival for lung and bronchus cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year cause-specific survival for lung and bronchus cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 20.9 (20.2 - 21.5)
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 21.3 (20.5 - 22.0)
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 18.5 (16.6 - 20.4)
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 20.8 (18.2 - 23.4)
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 20.6 (18.4 - 22.7)
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 14.7 (7.9 - 21.6)
Female Breast Cancer by Race/Ethnicity
5-year cause-specific survival for female breast cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year cause-specific survival for female breast cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 88.7 (88.3 - 89.1)
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 89.2 (88.8 - 89.7)
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 80.9 (79.2 - 82.5)
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 87.0 (85.6 - 88.4)
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 91.7 (90.6 - 92.8)
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 83.7 (77.3 - 90.1)
Prostate Cancer by Race/Ethnicity
5-year cause-specific survival for prostate cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2008)
Percent surviving Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year cause-specific survival for prostate cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2008 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 94.5 (94.2 - 94.7)
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 94.4 (94.1 - 94.8)
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 94.1 (93.3 - 94.9)
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 93.6 (92.6 - 94.6)
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 94.3 (93.2 - 95.4)
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 94.0 (88.9 - 99.1)

Additional Information on Survival

Statistics

Year Range

1975-2008

Recent Summary Trend Year Range

2004-2008

Summary Tables

Survival, Smoking, Obesity, Physical Activity

Recent Summary Trend

Rising

Desired Direction

Rising