Your gift is 100% tax deductible
Survival Rates for Penile Cancer
Survival rates are a way to measure how many people survive a certain type of cancer over time. They cannot tell you exactly what will happen with any one person, but they may help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that treatment will be successful.
These statistics can be confusing, and they may lead you to have more questions. Ask your cancer care team how these numbers might apply to you.
What is a 5-year relative survival rate?
A relative survival rate compares men with the same type and stage of penile cancer to men in the overall population.
For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of penile cancer is 80%, it means that men who have that cancer are, on average, about 80% as likely as men 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 penile cancer 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 confined to the penis.
- Regional: The cancer has spread outside of the penis to nearby structures or nearby lymph nodes.
- Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs, liver, or bones.
5-year relative survival rates for penile cancer
These numbers are based on men diagnosed with penile cancer between 2015 and 2021.
SEER Stage |
5-Year Relative Survival Rate |
Localized |
79% |
Regional |
57% |
Distant |
10% |
All SEER stages combined |
65% |
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, overall health, how well the cancer responds to treatment, and other factors can also affect your outlook.
- People now being diagnosed with penile cancer may have a better outlook than these numbers show. Treatments have improved over time, and these numbers are based on those who were diagnosed and treated at least 5 years earlier.
- Written by
- References
Developed by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
SEER*Explorer: An interactive website for SEER cancer statistics [Internet]. Surveillance Research Program, National Cancer Institute. Accessed at https://seer.cancer.gov/explorer/ on June 13, 2025.
Last Revised: September 8, 2025
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.
American Cancer Society Emails
Sign up to stay up-to-date with news, valuable information, and ways to get involved with the American Cancer Society.
