Survival

Data Up to Date as of:

November 2020

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, 1975–2012 with follow-up through 2017.

Trends and Most Recent Estimates

All Cancer Sites Combined

By Sex

5-year relative survival for all cancer sites combined by sex, 1975-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	Both Sexes	69.0	68.7 - 69.3
	Male	67.8	67.4 - 68.3
	Female	70.1	69.7 - 70.6

By Race/Ethnicity

5-year relative survival for all cancer sites combined by race/ethnicity, 1992-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	All Races	68.4	68.2 - 68.7
	White	69.1	68.8 - 69.4
	Black	63.2	62.4 - 64.1
	Hispanic	65.7	64.9 - 66.5
	Asian/Pacific Islander	65.0	64.2 - 65.8
	American Indian/Alaska Native	63.2	59.8 - 66.5

Top 4 Cancer Sites

Comparison of Top Cancer Sites

5-year relative survival for the most common cancers, 1975-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	Colon and Rectum	65.5	64.3 - 66.6
	Lung and Bronchus	19.9	19.1 - 20.7
	Female Breast	91.2	90.6 - 91.8
	Prostate	98.1	97.4 - 98.7

Colon and Rectum Cancer by Sex

5-year relative survival for colon and rectum cancer by sex, 1975-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	Both Sexes	65.5	64.3 - 66.6
	Male	65.5	63.9 - 67.1
	Female	65.5	63.8 - 67.1

Colon and Rectum Cancer by Race/Ethnicity

5-year relative survival for colon and rectum cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	All Races	65.2	64.2 - 66.1
	White	65.2	64.0 - 66.3
	Black	59.1	56.2 - 61.9
	Hispanic	62.2	59.5 - 64.7
	Asian/Pacific Islander	68.7	66.1 - 71.1
	American Indian/Alaska Native	61.3	51.1 - 70.0

Lung and Bronchus Cancer by Sex

5-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer by sex, 1975-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	Both Sexes	19.9	19.1 - 20.7
	Male	16.8	15.8 - 17.8
	Female	23.2	22.0 - 24.4

Lung and Bronchus Cancer by Race/Ethnicity

5-year relative survival for lung and bronchus cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	All Races	19.6	18.9 - 20.3
	White	19.6	18.8 - 20.3
	Black	17.5	15.7 - 19.3
	Hispanic	18.4	15.9 - 21.0
	Asian/Pacific Islander	21.6	19.5 - 23.8
	American Indian/Alaska Native	21.3	13.0 - 31.0

Female Breast Cancer by Race/Ethnicity

5-year relative survival for female breast cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	All Races	90.7	90.2 - 91.2
	White	91.2	90.6 - 91.8
	Black	85.0	83.1 - 86.6
	Hispanic	88.2	86.6 - 89.6
	Asian/Pacific Islander	92.2	90.9 - 93.4
	American Indian/Alaska Native	88.0	79.9 - 93.0

Prostate Cancer by Race/Ethnicity

5-year relative survival for prostate cancer by race/ethnicity, 1992-2012
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Most Recent Estimates (2012)
Overview Graph	Detailed Trend Graphs	Percent surviving	95% Confidence Interval
	All Races	97.9	97.3 - 98.4
	White	97.8	97.1 - 98.4
	Black	96.8	95.0 - 98.0
	Hispanic	95.0	93.1 - 96.4
	Asian/Pacific Islander	95.5	93.1 - 97.1
	American Indian/Alaska Native	86.6	67.9 - 94.8

Additional Information on Survival

For the public

Survivorship. National Cancer Institute.

Year Range

1975-2012

Recent Summary Trend Year Range

2008-2012

Summary Tables

Survival, Smoking, Obesity, Physical Activity

Recent Summary Trend

Rising

Desired Direction