Cancer Survival Rates

First and foremost, keep in mind when reading about statistics and cancer survival rates for a specific type of cancer that these are numbers! Statistics can’t tell you what is going to happen to you.

Often, statistics related to a specific type of cancer are very general in nature – and since each person that has cancer begins treatment at a different point in the cancer’s progression (see stages of cancer), there is no way to arrive at absolutely mathematically correct survival rate for any given type of cancer.

In addition, different and more advanced courses of treatment for every type of cancer are being introduced each and every day – and so even if you find survival rates for a specific stage of a specific type of cancer, keep in mind that all of the people that make up that statistic were being treated by different doctors, at different hospitals, and using different courses of treatment. (And it goes without saying that all of those people had varying attitudes during their treatment, which can also affect their individual outcomes.)

In short, read the statistics for your type and stage of cancer, but do not let them consume you – they are just numbers, after all, and you are a person.

Okay, so how are statistics, or cancer survival rates, typically shown? They are usually stated in terms of “5 year survival rates” or “10 year survival rates”. Why are 5 years and 10 years the typical timelines used for cancer statistics? Should you celebrate if you are 5 years cancer-free since that means you are cured, once and for all?

Do celebrate! Being cancer-free is a wonderful thing that should be celebrated each and every day! But understand that 5 years and 10 years have less to do with reality and more to do with the fact that most of the research studies that statistics are based off of last 5 or 10 years. That’s right. Research studies typically follow up with the people involved for 5 years or 10 years after their initial cancer diagnosis. After those 5 years or 10 years have passed, the study is closed, and any additional information related to the study participants’ continued remission or recurrence of cancer are not tracked.

With that being said, the longer you go cancer-free, the better your chances are that it won’t ever come back.

So, a 5-year cancer survival rate or statistic of 65% means that 65% of the people involved in the study were still alive 5 years after their initial diagnosis. The same holds true for 10-year cancer survival rates: a 10-year cancer survival rate of 85% means that 10 years after the study participants’ initial diagnoses, 85% of them were still here with us on this earth.

Do these rates also mean that the people involved in the study were cancer-free during that 5 or 10 years? Unless the statistic specifically notes a recurrence rate, you have to assume that at least some of the study participants experienced a recurrence of their cancer during the 5 or 10 year period but were still alive 5 or 10 years after their initial diagnoses (either in remission once again or undergoing treatment).

You should also understand that there is no such thing as being completely “cured” of cancer – at least not yet! But as I said before, the longer you’re in remission, the less likely it is that the cancer will return.

A good source for statistics is the National Cancer Institute.

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