Stomach Cancer Survival Rates

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 to any one person, but they may help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that treatment will be successful.

What is a 5-year relative survival rate?

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

For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of stomach cancer is 70%, it means that people who have that cancer are, on average, about 70% 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 stomach cancer (also known as gastric 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: There is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the stomach.
• Regional: The cancer has spread outside the stomach to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
• Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the liver.

5-year relative survival rates for stomach cancer

These numbers are based on people diagnosed with cancers of the stomach between 2015 and 2021.

SEER stage	5-year relative survival rate
Localized	77%
Regional	37%
Distant	8%
All SEER stages combined	38%

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, and each person is different. Survival rates are grouped based on how far the cancer has spread, but your age and overall health, how well the cancer responds to treatment, and other factors can also affect your outlook.
• People now being diagnosed with stomach cancer may have a better outlook than these numbers show. Treatments have improved over time, and these numbers are based on people who were diagnosed and treated at least 5 years earlier.

Keep in mind that survival rates are estimates, and they can’t predict what will happen in any person’s case. These statistics can be confusing and may lead you to have more questions. Ask your doctor how these numbers might apply to you.