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Survival depends first on stage at diagnosis, then on subtype and the treatment received, and it is improving for most cancers because of screening and the drugs approved since these figures were collected. The five-year figures for 36 of 474 cancers in OnCo, from the US National Cancer Institute's SEER programme (2016-2022 diagnoses), are below behind a click: population averages for the United States, not predictions for any one person.
Stage is the biggest lever. For 11 of the 36 cancers below, people diagnosed with localised disease have five-year survival at or above 90%, close to people without cancer. That is why screening and early detection are on almost every cancer's state-of-the-art list.
The figures lag treatment. They describe people diagnosed in 2016-2022. Immunotherapy, ADCs, targeted pills and radioligand therapy approved since then are not reflected, so where a cancer has had a new standard of care since 2022, current survival is likely better than the number shown, by an amount nobody can yet quantify: the cohort that would measure it has not been followed for five years.
Subtype matters more than site. SEER groups by organ; OnCo splits breast, lung, leukaemia and lymphoma by subtype, and the same site figure is repeated with a note on which way the subtype differs. Each cancer page explains its own picture in words first.
Stage at diagnosis is the single biggest lever on outcomes, and screening, blood tests and AI-read imaging are moving it.
Background: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), Barrett's oesophagus, CA 19-9, Early detection, Faecal immunochemical test (FIT). Also on OnCo: Symptoms and red flags · Early detection roadmap.
Averages across everyone diagnosed in 2016-2022, before several of today's treatments existed. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average; ask your team how the figure for your stage and subtype has moved. Each row links to the cancer page, which leads with what can be done.
| Cancer | SEER site | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia | Acute lymphocytic leukaemia | 73.2% | no staging | no staging | no staging | Not staged | 2016-2022 |
| Acute myeloid leukaemia | Acute myeloid leukaemia | 33.4% | no staging | no staging | no staging | Not staged | 2016-2022 |
| Anal cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) | Anus, anal canal and anorectum | 70.9% | 85% | 70.1% | 36.5% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Biliary tract cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) SEER combines intrahepatic bile duct cancer with liver cancer; extrahepatic and gallbladder cancers are not included. | Liver and intrahepatic bile duct | 21.9% | 37.4% | 13.4% | 3.6% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Bladder & urothelial cancer Upper-tract urothelial cancers are not included in the bladder site. | Urinary bladder | 79.1% | 73% | 41.8% | 9.6% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Cervical cancer | Cervix uteri | 68.8% | 91.8% | 64% | 20.5% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia | Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia | 90.2% | no staging | no staging | no staging | Not staged | 2016-2022 |
| Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) | Chronic myeloid leukaemia | 71.1% | no staging | no staging | no staging | Not staged | 2016-2022 |
| Colorectal cancer | Colon and rectum | 65.4% | 91.3% | 75.2% | 16.9% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma | Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma | 64.8% | n/a | n/a | n/a | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Endometrial cancer | Uterus (corpus and uterus, NOS) | 80.9% | 94.9% | 70.1% | 19.9% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Ewing sarcoma SEER combines all bone and joint cancers. | Bone and joint | 68.7% | no staging | no staging | no staging | Not staged | 2016-2022 |
| Follicular lymphoma | Follicular lymphoma | 88.9% | n/a | n/a | n/a | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer Gastro-oesophageal junction tumours are split between the stomach and oesophagus sites in SEER. | Stomach | 39.8% | 78.1% | 39% | 8.1% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) GIST is not a SEER site; small-intestine cancer is the closest published table and is not a substitute. | Small intestine | 71.8% | 86.3% | 79.6% | 47.9% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Glioma & glioblastoma SEER combines all brain and nervous system tumours; glioblastoma has worse survival than this average. | Brain and other nervous system | 32.9% | 35.3% | 20.1% | 28% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma Covers oral cavity and pharynx only; larynx is a separate SEER site. | Oral cavity and pharynx | 69.9% | 88.7% | 69.7% | 36% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Hepatocellular carcinoma SEER combines hepatocellular carcinoma with intrahepatic bile duct cancer. | Liver and intrahepatic bile duct | 21.9% | 37.4% | 13.4% | 3.6% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
HER2-positive breast cancer SEER reports all female breast cancer together, not by subtype. | Breast (female) | 91.9% | 100% | 87.5% | 33.8% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Hodgkin lymphoma | Hodgkin lymphoma | 89.3% | n/a | n/a | n/a | Staged | 2016-2022 |
HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer SEER reports all female breast cancer together, not by subtype; HR-positive disease has better survival than this average. | Breast (female) | 91.9% | 100% | 87.5% | 33.8% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Melanoma | Melanoma of the skin | 94.7% | 100% | 76% | 34% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Multiple myeloma | Myeloma | 63.7% | 82.1% | 80.7% | 63% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Non-small-cell lung cancer SEER reports all lung cancer together; non-small-cell disease has better survival than this average. | Lung and bronchus | 29.5% | 65.5% | 38.2% | 10.5% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Oesophageal cancer | Oesophagus | 22.2% | 48.6% | 29.1% | 5.3% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Osteosarcoma SEER combines all bone and joint cancers. | Bone and joint | 68.7% | no staging | no staging | no staging | Not staged | 2016-2022 |
| Ovarian cancer | Ovary | 52% | 91.9% | 70.1% | 31.5% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma | Pancreas | 13.7% | 43.6% | 17% | 3.4% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Prostate cancer | Prostate | 98.2% | 100% | 100% | 40.1% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Renal cell carcinoma | Kidney and renal pelvis | 79.2% | 93.6% | 77.6% | 20.3% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST) Soft-tissue sarcomas only; bone sarcomas and GIST are reported separately. | Soft tissue including heart | 65.7% | 83.3% | 58.2% | 17% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Small-cell lung cancer SEER reports all lung cancer together; small-cell disease has worse survival than this average. | Lung and bronchus | 29.5% | 65.5% | 38.2% | 10.5% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Testicular germ cell tumours | Testis | 94.6% | no staging | no staging | no staging | Not staged | 2016-2022 |
| Thyroid cancer | Thyroid | 98.3% | 99.9% | 98.1% | 48.3% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) SEER reports all female breast cancer together, not by subtype; triple-negative disease has worse survival than this average. | Breast (female) | 91.9% | 100% | 87.5% | 33.8% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
| Vulvar cancer | Vulva | 69.7% | 85.5% | 51.4% | 20.8% | Staged | 2016-2022 |
Source: SEER Cancer Stat Facts, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, National Cancer Institute, fetched 2026-10-01. Each row links to its SEER fact sheet.
Survival differs between countries because of stage at diagnosis, access to treatment and registry practice. No figures are copied here from the international studies; these are the places to look:
Incidence by country is on cases by country; where the cancer sits in the body on the body map.
SEER publishes stat facts for common sites only. These cancers have no comparable table here; their pages describe the outlook in words, with what is being done first, where a source exists.