Survival for breast cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Survival for breast cancer is generally good, particularly if you are diagnosed early. This is probably because of screening, early diagnosis and improved treatment.
Survival depends on many different factors. So no one can tell you exactly how long you will live. It depends on your:
- type and stage of cancer
- level of fitness
- previous treatment
Your doctor can give you more information about your own outlook (prognosis). You can also talk about this with the Cancer Research UK information nurses on freephone 0808 800 4040, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Survival by stage
No UK-wide statistics are available for different stages of breast cancer. Survival statistics are available for each stage of breast cancer in England. These figures are for women diagnosed between 2016 and 2020.
Stage 1
Most women (almost 100%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Stage 2
90 out of 100 women (90%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Stage 3
More than 70 out of 100 women (more than 70%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Stage 4
More than 25 out of 100 women (more than 25%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed. The cancer is not curable at this point, but may be controlled with treatment for some years.
You can view survival figures for Wales and Northern Ireland on our early diagnosis pages. Survival statistics for Scotland are not available.
Cancer survival in England, cancers diagnosed 2016 to 2020, followed up to 2021
NHS England
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2016 and 2020.
These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
Survival for all stages of breast cancer
Generally for women with breast cancer in England:
- Around 95 out of every 100 women (around 95%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis
- Around 85 out of every 100 women (around 85%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis
- Around 75 out of every 100 women (around 75%) will survive their cancer for 10 years or more after diagnosis
1 and 5 year survival statistics
Cancer survival in England, cancers diagnosed 2016 to 2020, followed up to 2021
NHS England
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2016 and 2020.
10 year survival statistics
Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics
1, 5 and 10 year statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
What affects survival
Your outlook depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread.
The type of cancer and grade of the cancer cells can also affect your survival. Grade means how abnormal the cells look under the microscope.
Your general health and fitness also affect survival, the fitter you are, the better you may be able to cope with your cancer and treatment.
Another factor that can affect survival is whether the cancer cells have receptors for particular cancer drugs.
About these statistics
The terms 1 year survival and 5 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1 or 5 years.
The NHS, other health organisations, and researchers collect information. They watch what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.
5 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 years after diagnosis.
Statistics are averages based on large numbers of patients. They can’t predict exactly what will happen to you. No two patients are exactly alike and response to treatment also varies from one person to another.
More statistics
For more in depth information about breast cancer survival, go to our Cancer Statistics section.
