Survival
Survival depends on many factors. No one can tell you exactly how long you will live.
Below are general statistics based on large groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case.
Survival by stage
No UK-wide statistics are available for different stages of lung cancer or individual treatments. These figures are for survival by stage in England for people diagnosed between 2013 and 2017.
Stage 1
More than 55 out of 100 people (more than 55%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Stage 2
Around 35 out of 100 people (around 35%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Stage 3
Almost 15 out of 100 people (almost 15%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Stage 4
Almost 5 out of 100 people (almost 5%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2013 and 2017.
These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
Survival for all stages of lung cancer
Generally for people with lung cancer in England:
- around 40 out of every 100 people (around 40%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis
- around 15 out of every 100 people (around 15%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis
- 10 out of every 100 people (10%) will survive their cancer for 10 years or more after diagnosis
Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics
These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
What affects survival
Your outcome depends on the type of lung cancer that you have and also the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread.
Your general health and fitness might also affect survival. Doctors call this your performance status. A score of 0 means you are completely able to look after yourself. A score of 1 means you can do most things for yourself but need some help. The scores continue to go up, depending on how much help you need. People with a higher score may have a poorer outlook.
About these statistics
The terms 1 year survival and 5 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1 or 5 years.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and researchers collect information. They watch what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.
5 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 years after diagnosis.
