Thyroid and parathyroid cancer survival rates are usually discussed in terms of 5-year relative survival, which means the proportion of patients 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. The most current national data is from patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2019, which doesn’t reflect the impact of recent improvements in early detection and the latest treatment advances.
In the United States, overall survival (including all stages of disease) among people diagnosed with thyroid cancer is 98.5%. The National Cancer Institute records survival rates using three broad categories:
- Localized disease. In patients with early-stage, localized cancers where the cancer is confined to the primary site, 5-year survival is 99.9%.
- Regional disease. Among those whose cancer has spread to regional lymph nodes, the survival is 98.3%.
- Distant disease. Patients with thyroid cancer that has metastasized to other body areas at the time of diagnosis, have a survival rate of 53.5%.
Learn more thyroid and parathyroid cancer survival statistics from the National Cancer Institute.