Survival Rates

Survival rates for lung cancer are an important statistic to understand while fighting lung cancer.

Understanding the survival rates for lung cancer helps you and your doctor make decisions around treating the cancer. It also helps you understand what to expect from your cancer. Lung cancer survival rates are based on large numbers of people who have the same kind of cancer as you do and do not mean to predict how you will do with your cancer.

You can find out how long it takes for about half of the people with lung cancer to die by looking at the different stages. Each stage has different lung cancer survival rates. Stage 1A is the smallest size of lung cancer and has a survival time of more than five years. This means that more than half of the people who have this kind of cancer will still be alive after five years.

The numbers go down from there. With stage 1B, the survival time for half the victims is 3 years. With stage 2A, the survival time is 2 years. With stage 2B, the time is 20 months. With stage 3A, the time is 15 months and with stage 3B, the time is one year. Those with stage 4 cancer when they are diagnosed, have about 8 months to live, on average.

Look at how many survive for five years.

There is another way of looking at lung cancer survival rates and that is to look at how many people survive to five years after having cancer. In stage 1 cancer, between 38 and 60 people out of a hundred will be alive after five years. In stage 2 cancer, about 30 and 50 people out of a hundred will be alive after five years. In stage 3 disease, between ten and 30 people out of a hundred will be alive after five years. In stage 4 disease (the worst stage), only 5 or fewer people out of a hundred will be alive after five years

Besides stage, what kinds of things help decide the lung cancer survival rate? If you are young (less than 30 years of age), you have a five year rate of survival of around 85%, much better than older people.

The kind of cancer you have also affects the survival rates for lung cancer. For example, if you have small cell lung cancer that has not spread to other body parts, you have a survival rate of up to two to three years if you are treated with strong medication and radiation. If you have small cell cancer that has spread to other body parts, you have a survival time of 4-6 weeks, even if you have treatment.

The lung cancer survival rate depends on how big the tumor is, if it has spread to nearby lymph nodes and if it has spread to other body parts. When the cancer has spread to other body parts, there is more cancer or the body to deal with and it is harder to recover from. Chemotherapy can help shrink cancer that has spread to other body parts but it is often not enough to save your life over many years.

How Your Health Affects You

The status of your health helps decide if you will survive having lung cancer. If you are healthy at the time of having lung cancer and continue to stay healthy be eating healthy and exercising, you will have a better chance of beating cancer. Remember that lung cancer survival rates do not mean that you will become a bad statistic. You may beat cancer, even if you have serious lung cancer.

The kind of treatment you have can make a difference in how you survive with lung cancer.

This is why you should get the best cancer doctor you can to treat your lung cancer.

Written by Dr. Christine Traxler
July 2009
Reviewed by Susan McCracken
08-10-09