Cancer survival rates are usually discussed in terms of 5-year relative survival, which refers to the proportion of patients still alive 5 years after diagnosis. Keep in mind that statistics like these are based on large groups of people and cannot predict what might happen with an individual patient.
In the United States, an estimated 14,100 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year. About 4,280 women are estimated to die from the disease this year.
Overall, the five-year survival rate for women with invasive cervical cancer is about 67.4%. However, these statistics do not include the large number of women diagnosed with precancers, far more common than invasive cervical cancer. Routine screening with Pap and/or HPV testing can detect these precancers, providing important opportunity to treat the precancer and avoid progression to invasive cancer.
Survival is largely dependent on the cancer’s stage at the time of diagnosis, and data from the National Cancer Institute shows these survival rates for cervical cancer:
Stage of disease at diagnosis | Five-year survival rate |
|---|---|
Localized disease (such as Stage 1) where the cancer was confined to the original location. | 91% |
Regional disease (such as stage 2 and 3) where the disease has spread to nearby lymph nodes | 60% |
Distant disease (stage 4) where the cancer has already spread to other body areas | 19% |