Cancer Survival Rates

Changes in the 5-Year Relative Survival Rates by Primary Cancer Site, Whites

The overall 5-year relative survival rate for all cancer sites combined among whites increased from slightly under 40 percent in the early 1960s to more than 55 percent in the mid- to late 1980s. The most dramatic increase in survival was for men with testicular cancer, where the survival rate reached 94 percent by the beginning of the decade. For nearly every cancer site, there has been an improvement in survival. The most recent data indicate that 82 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer will survive their disease for more than 5 years. Lung cancer patients have low survival rates which have not increased in the last 10 years. More than 75 percent of patients with melanoma or Hodgkin's disease or cancer of the urinary bladder, corpus uteri, thyroid, breast, prostate, or testis survive at least 5 years after diagnosis.

 

5-Year Relative Survival Ratesa for Selected Cancer Sites, Whites

WHITES
Cancer Site 1960­63 1970­73 1974­76 1977­79 1980­82 1983­90
Brain & Other Nervous 18 20 22.1 23.8 24.4 26.7
Breast (females) 63 68 74.9 75.2 76.9 81.6
Cervix Uteri 58 64 69.2 68.8 67.7 69.9
Colon & Rectum ­ ­ 49.8 52.1 54.7 60.1
Corpus & Uterus, NOS 73 81 88.6 86.2 82.7 84.9
Esophagus 4 4 5.1 5.6 7.4 10.5
Hodgkin's Disease 40 67 71.6 73.0 74.9 79.4
Kidney & Renal Pelvis 37 46 51.4 50.7 50.9 56.9
Larynx 53 62 66.2 68.1 69.1 69.1
Leukemias 14 22 34.8 37.5 38.3 39.5
Liver & Intrahep ­ ­ 4.3 3.2 3.9 6.6
Lung & Bronchus 8 10 12.4 13.6 13.5 13.7
Melanoma of Skin 60 68 80.0 81.8 82.3 85.3
Multiple Myeloma 12 19 24.1 24.6 27.9 27.4
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma 31 41 47.5 48.3 51.6 52.6
Oral Cavity & Pharynx 45 43 54.9 54.2 55.1 54.6
Ovary 32 36 36.3 37.5 38.7 41.6
Pancreas 1 2 2.6 2.3 2.8 3.0
Prostate 50 63 67.7 71.9 74.3 81.3
Stomach 11 13 14.4 16.0 16.2 17.5
Testis 63 72 78.6 87.7 91.8 93.6
Thyroid 83 86 91.9 92.3 93.8 94.7
Urinary Bladder 53 61 73.6 75.7 78.8 80.7
All Sites 39 43 50.3 50.8 51.8 55.5

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a Data for 1960-63 and 1970-73 are from three hospital registries and one state registry and appear in Cancer Patient Survival Experience, 1980. Data for 1974-90 are from SEER, and represent approximately 10 percent of the U.S. population. Thus, the earlier data and the SEER data are not strictly comparable, but each represents the best available data for the period covered.

- Statistics could not be calculated.