Survival rates are a way for doctors and patients to get a general idea of the outlook (prognosis) for people with a certain type and stage of cancer. Some people want to know the statistics for people in their situation, while others may not find them helpful, or may even not want to know them. Whether or not you want to read about the survival statistics below is up to you.
The 5-year survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after being diagnosed. Of course, many of these people live much longer than 5 years. Five-year relative survival rates, such as the numbers below, assume that some people will die of other causes and compare the observed survival with that expected for people without the cancer. This is a more accurate way to describe the prognosis for patients with a particular type and stage of cancer.
In order to get 5-year survival rates, doctors have to look at people who were treated at least 5 years ago. Although the numbers below are among the most current available, improvements in treatment since then may result in a more favorable outlook for people now being diagnosed with brain and spinal cord tumors.
Survival rates are often based on previous outcomes of large numbers of people who had the disease, but they cannot predict what will happen in any particular person's case. Knowing the type of tumor is important in estimating a person's outlook. But many other factors may also affect the outlook, such as the location of the tumor and whether it can be removed with surgery, as well as a person's age and overall health. Even when taking these other factors into account, survival rates are at best rough estimates. Your doctor can tell you if the numbers below may apply, as he or she is familiar with the aspects of your particular situation.
The numbers below come from the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) and are based on people who were treated between 1995 and 2007. As can be seen below, survival rates for brain and spinal cord tumors vary widely by age, with younger people generally having better outlooks than older people. The survival rates for those 65 or older are generally lower than the rates for the ages listed below.
These numbers are for some of the more common types of malignant brain and spinal cord tumors. Numbers are not readily available for all types of tumors, often because they are rare or are hard to classify.
|
Type of Tumor |
5-Year Relative Survival Rate | ||
Age | |||
20-44 |
45-54 |
55-64 | |
Low-grade (diffuse) astrocytoma |
59% |
40% |
NA* |
Anaplastic astrocytoma |
49% |
29% |
8% |
Glioblastoma |
16% |
6% |
3% |
Oligodendroglioma |
85% |
77% |
65% |
Anaplastic oligodendroglioma |
66% |
53% |
33% |
Ependymoma/anaplastic ependymoma |
91% |
85% |
84% |
*NA = not available
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