Survival

Data Up to Date as of:

March 2020

On This Page:

For patients diagnosed with cancer in 2011, 69.6% 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 cancer survivors in a cohort of cancer patients relative to the proportion of expected survivors.

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.
Note: Goals are indicated as blue line on Detailed Trend Graphs.

Data Source

SEER Program, National Cancer Institute, 1975–2010 with follow-up through 2015.

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, 1975-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for all cancer sites combined by sex, 1975-2011 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 69.6 69.3 - 69.9
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 69.3 68.9 - 69.8
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 69.8 69.4 - 70.3
By Race/Ethnicity
5-year relative survival for all cancer sites combined by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for all cancer sites combined by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 68.8 68.5 - 69.1
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 69.8 69.5 - 70.1
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 62.6 61.7 - 63.4
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 65.9 65.1 - 66.6
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 64.5 63.6 - 65.3
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 58.0 54.5 - 61.2

Top 4 Cancer Sites

Comparison of Top Cancer Sites
5-year relative survival for the most common cancers, 1975-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for the most common cancers, 1975-2011 Colon and RectumClick to see the detailed trend graph for Colon and Rectum 65.7 64.5 - 66.8
Lung and BronchusClick to see the detailed trend graph for Lung and Bronchus 20.4 19.6 - 21.2
Female BreastClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female Breast 91.4 90.7 - 92.0
ProstateClick to see the detailed trend graph for Prostate 99.2 98.4 - 99.6
Colon and Rectum Cancer by Sex
5-year relative survival for colon and rectum cancer by sex, 1975-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for colon and rectum cancer by sex, 1975-2011 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 65.7 64.5 - 66.8
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 65.3 63.6 - 66.8
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 66.1 64.4 - 67.8
Colon and Rectum Cancer by Race/Ethnicity
5-year relative survival for colon and rectum cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for colon and rectum cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 64.6 63.7 - 65.6
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 65.6 64.4 - 66.7
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 55.2 52.3 - 58.0
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 61.9 59.2 - 64.5
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 65.5 62.9 - 68.0
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 60.4 50.8 - 68.8
Lung and Bronchus Cancer by Sex
5-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer by sex, 1975-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer by sex, 1975-2011 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 20.4 19.6 - 21.2
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 16.7 15.7 - 17.8
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 24.2 23.1 - 25.4
Lung and Bronchus Cancer by Race/Ethnicity
5-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 19.9 19.2 - 20.6
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 19.9 19.1 - 20.7
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 18.0 16.2 - 20.0
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 16.3 14.1 - 18.7
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 21.4 19.3 - 23.5
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 22.1 14.1 - 31.2
Female Breast Cancer by Race/Ethnicity
5-year relative survival for female breast cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for female breast cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 90.8 90.3 - 91.3
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 92.0 91.4 - 92.6
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 82.0 80.1 - 83.8
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 88.7 87.2 - 90.1
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 90.7 89.3 - 91.9
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 89.9 80.9 - 94.8
Prostate Cancer by Race/Ethnicity
5-year relative survival for prostate cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2011)
Percent surviving 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for 5-year relative survival for prostate cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2011 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 98.7 98.1 - 99.1
WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for White 98.9 98.3 - 99.3
BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Black 95.4 93.8 - 96.6
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 95.5 93.6 - 96.8
Asian/Pacific IslanderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Asian/Pacific Islander 97.6 95.1 - 98.8
American Indian/Alaska NativeClick to see the detailed trend graph for American Indian/Alaska Native 87.4 69.6 - 95.1

Additional Information on Survival

For the public

For health professionals

Scientific reports

Statistics

Year Range

1975-2011

Recent Summary Trend Year Range

2007-2011

Summary Tables

Survival, Smoking, Obesity, Physical Activity

Recent Summary Trend

Rising

Desired Direction

Rising