Survival Rates for Malignant Mesothelioma

Survival rates can give you an idea of what percentage of people with the same type and stage of cancer are still alive a certain amount of time (usually 5 years) after they were diagnosed. They can’t tell you how long you will live, but they may help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that your treatment will be successful.

Keep in mind that survival rates are estimates and are often based on previous outcomes of large numbers of people who had a specific cancer, but they can’t predict what will happen in any particular person’s case. These statistics can be confusing and may lead you to have more questions. Ask your doctor, who is familiar with your situation, how these numbers may apply to you.

What is a 5-year relative survival rate?

A relative survival rate compares people with the same type and stage of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) to people in the overall population. For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of MPM is 30%, it means that people who have that cancer are, on average, about 30% as likely as people who don’t have that cancer to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed.

Where do these numbers come from?

The American Cancer Society relies on information from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, maintained by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), to provide survival statistics for different types of cancer.

The SEER database tracks 5-year relative survival rates for MPM in the United States, based on how far the cancer has spread. The SEER database, however, does not group cancers by AJCC TNM stages (stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, etc.). Instead, it groups cancers into localized, regional, and distant stages:

• Localized: The cancer is limited to the pleura.
• Regional: The cancer has spread to nearby structures or to nearby lymph nodes.
• Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the liver, bones, or pleura on the other side of the body.

5-year relative survival rates for malignant pleural mesothelioma

These numbers are based on people diagnosed with MPM from 2012 to 2018.

SEER Stage	5-Year Relative Survival Rate
Localized	24%
Regional	16%
Distant	7%
All SEER stages combined	12%

Understanding the numbers

• These numbers apply only to the stage of the cancer when it is first diagnosed. They do not apply later on if the cancer grows, spreads, or comes back after treatment.
• These numbers don’t take everything into account. Survival rates are grouped based on how far the cancer has spread, but your age and overall health, the type of mesothelioma you have, how resectable the cancer is, how well it responds to treatment, and other factors can also affect your outlook.
• People now being diagnosed with MPM may have a better outlook than these numbers show. Treatments improve over time, and these numbers are based on people who were diagnosed and treated at least 5 years earlier.