Find out about survival for mesothelioma.

Survival depends on many different factors. It depends on your individual condition, type of cancer, treatment and level of fitness. So no one can tell you exactly how long you will live. 

These are general statistics based on large groups of patients. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case.

Your doctor can give you more information about your own outlook (prognosis).

Survival by stage

There are no UK wide statistics available for mesothelioma survival by stage. It is difficult to collect data because mesothelioma is rare. Doctors don't always know the stage because accurate staging needs an operation. And most people don't have surgery.

The statistics below are from a study in South East England. The researchers looked at people diagnosed with mesothelioma between 1998 and 2002. Statistics are only available for men. This is because there were not enough women to calculate survival by stage for women. Most of the people in this study had mesothelioma in the chest (pleural mesothelioma).

Men were classified as having either localised disease (stage 1) or non localised disease (stage 2, 3 or 4).

Localised disease

Almost 35 out of 100 men (almost 35%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis.

Almost 5 in 100 men (almost 5%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

In this study, localised disease means the mesothelioma hasn't grown beyond where it started. It hasn't spread into nearby tissue or elsewhere in the body. 

Non  localised disease

More than 15 out of 100 men (more than 15%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more.

Only 1 in 100 men (1% ) survive their cancer for 5 years or more. 

In this study non localised disease means the cancer has spread beyond where it started. It might have spread into nearby tissue, lymph nodes or to other parts of the body. 

Survival for all stages

No UK-wide statistics are available for mesothelioma survival. These statistics are for England and are for people diagnosed between 2010 and 2014.

I year survival

Almost 50 out of 100 men (almost 50%) survive their mesothelioma for 1 year or more after diagnosis.

Around 50 out of 100 women (around 50%) survive their mesothelioma for 1 year or more after diagnosis

5 year survival

Around 5 in 100 men (around 5%) survive their mesothelioma for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

10 out of 100 women (10%) survive their mesothelioma for 5 year or more after diagnosis.

What affects your outlook

Your outcome depends on the stage of the mesothelioma when it was diagnosed. This means whether it has spread.

The type of mesothelioma you have also affects your likely survival. People with the epithelial type tend to do better than the other types.

Another factor is how well you are overall. Doctors have a way of measuring this. They call it your performance status. A score of 0 means you are fully active and more or less as you were before your illness. A score of 1 means you can't carry out heavy physical work, but can do everything else. The scores continue to go up, depending on how much help you need.

Overall, the fitter people are, the better they are able to withstand their cancer and treatment.

People with normal haemoglobin levels and normal white blood cell and platelet counts tend to do better. These tests are a measure of your overall health and the effect the mesothelioma is having on you.

Clinical trials

Taking part in clinical trials can help to improve the outlook for people with mesothelioma.

More statistics

You can read more statistics on survival rates and other factors for mesothelioma in our Cancer Statistics section.