Survival Rates for Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancer

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

Keep in mind that survival rates are estimates. These statistics can be confusing and may raise more questions for you. Ask your cancer care team how these numbers might apply to your situation.

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 an oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer is 90%, it means that on average, people who have that cancer are about 90% 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 oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers in the United States, based on how far the cancer has spread. However, the SEER database doesn’t group cancers by AJCC TNM stages (stage I, stage II, stage III, etc.). Instead, it groups cancers into localized, regional, and distant stages:

• Localized: There is no sign the cancer has spread outside the organ where it started, for example: the lip, tongue, or floor of the mouth.
• Regional: The cancer has spread to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
• Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs.

5-year relative survival rates for oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers

These numbers are based on people diagnosed with cancers of the oral cavity (mouth) or oropharynx (the part of the throat behind the mouth) between 2015 and 2021.

Lip

SEER Stage	5-Year Relative Survival Rate
Localized	95%
Regional	62%
Distant	46%

 

Tongue

SEER Stage	5-Year Relative Survival Rate
Localized	88%
Regional	70%
Distant	39%

 

Floor of the mouth

SEER Stage	5-Year Relative Survival Rate
Localized	72%
Regional	43%
Distant	22%

 

Oropharynx

SEER Stage	5-year Relative Survival Rate
Localized	86%*
Regional	79%*
Distant	40%

*Currently, these survival rates are not based on the p16 (HPV) status of the cancer, which could affect outlook.

Understanding the numbers

These numbers apply only to the stage of the cancer when it is first diagnosed. They don’t apply later on if the cancer grows, spreads, or comes back after treatment.

These numbers don’t take everything into account. Survival rates for these cancers are grouped based on how far the cancer has spread. But your outlook can be affected by other factors, such as your age, your overall health, and how well your cancer responds to treatment.

Treatments improve over time. People now being diagnosed with oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancers may have a better outlook than these numbers show. These numbers are based on people who were diagnosed and treated at least 5 years earlier.