Survival Rates for Salivary Gland Cancer

Survival rates are a way to measure how many people survive a certain type of cancer over time. They can’t tell you exactly what will happen with any one person, but they might help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that treatment will be successful.

Survival rates might be informed by prognostic factors, which are certain factors that can affect a person’s prognosis (outlook).

Prognostic factors for salivary gland cancer

Prognostic factors help doctors anticipate how cancer might respond to different treatments, which might help them decide what treatment is best. Prognostic factors for salivary gland cancers include:

• Location of the tumor. Tumors in the major salivary glands (parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands) tend to have a better outlook than tumors in the minor salivary glands. Tumors confined to the salivary glands may be easier to treat than those that have spread to nearby lymph nodes or other distant parts of the body.
• Size of the tumor. Smaller tumors respond better to treatment than larger tumors.
• Type of salivary gland tumor. Certain types of salivary gland tumors may respond better to treatment than others. For example, polymorphous adenocarcinomas (PAC) tend to respond well to treatment.
• Nerve involvement. Tumors that do not involve the nerve tend to be easier to treat than those in which the nerve is affected. If the nerve is affected, a person might have symptoms like numbness or weakness in the face.
• If the tumor can be removed with surgery. Tumors that can be completely removed with surgery are less likely to recur than tumors that can’t be removed entirely with surgery.
• The grade of the tumor. Tumors with cells growing and dividing fast (high grade) might be more aggressive and require more treatment or be more difficult to treat.
• Age. Younger people with salivary gland tumors tend to have a better outlook than older people.
• Sex. Females with salivary gland cancer tend to have a better outlook than males.
• Smoking history. People who are currently smoking or have smoked in the past might have a worse outlook.

If you have questions about how these factors might affect your prognosis, talk with your cancer care team.

What is a 5-year relative survival rate?

A relative survival rate compares people with the same type and stage of salivary gland cancer to people in the overall population.

For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific type and stage of cancer is 90%, it means that on average, people with that cancer are about 90% as likely to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed, compared to people who don’t have that cancer.

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 salivary gland 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 limited to the salivary gland.
• Regional. The cancer is very large or has spread outside the salivary gland to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
• Distant. The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the lungs.

The SEER database also does not track survival rates for specific types of salivary gland cancer.

5-year relative survival rates for salivary gland cancer

These numbers are based on people diagnosed with salivary gland cancer between 2015 and 2021.

SEER Stage	5-year Relative Survival Rate
Localized	96%
Regional	70%
Distant	42%
All SEER stages combined	78%

 

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. Other factors can affect your prognosis, such as your age and overall health, and how well the cancer responds to treatment.

Treatments improve over time. These numbers are based on people who were diagnosed and treated at least 5 years earlier.