Cancer survival rates are usually discussed in terms of 5-year relative survival, which refers to the proportion of patients still alive five 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 addition, most current national data is from patients diagnosed in 2012-2018, which doesn’t reflect the impact of recent treatment advances.
In the United States, the overall 5-year relative survival among people diagnosed with melanoma (including all stages of disease) is 93.7%. The National Cancer Institute records survival rates using these very broad categories:
- Localized. In patients with early-stage cancers, that are confined to the primary site, 5-year survival is 99.5%.
- Regional. For patients with disease that has spread to regional lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis, survival is 70.6%.
- Distant disease. Among patients with disease that has spread to distant body areas at the time of diagnosis, survival is 31.9%.
Learn more melanoma survival statistics from the National Cancer Institute.
How Roswell Park maximizes survival
As a national leader in cancer care, Roswell Park’s approach includes several key components that maximize survival, outcomes and your quality of life, including:
- Integrating immunotherapy and targeted therapies into treatment for earlier stage disease
- Considering upfront immunotherapy before surgery
- Regional chemotherapy approaches to confine treatment to a limb