Survival for Hodgkin lymphoma

Survival for Hodgkin lymphoma is generally good, particularly if you are diagnosed early.

Survival depends on many factors. No one can tell you exactly how long you will live.

Below are general statistics based on large groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case. 

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.

Survival by stage

There are no UK wide statistics available for Hodgkin lymphoma survival by stage. Survival statistics are available for each stage of Hodgkin lymphoma in England. These figures are for people diagnosed between 2016 and 2020. 

Stage 1

Around 95 out of 100 people (around 95%) will survive for 5 years or more after diagnosis. 

Stage 2

90 out of 100 people (90%) will survive for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 3

More than 85 out of 100 people (more than 85%) will survive for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 4

Almost 85 out of 100 people (almost 85%) will survive for 5 years or more after being diagnosed.

Survival for all stages

Generally, for people with Hodgkin lymphoma in England:

• More than 90 out of 100 (more than 90%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis
• 85 out of 100 (85%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis
• 75 out of 100 people (75%) survive their cancer for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed

What affects survival

Several factors can affect your outlook (prognosis). These are called prognostic factors.

These factors include where Hodgkin lymphoma is in your body (the stage). And if you had certain symptoms (B symptoms) when you were diagnosed. B symptoms are:

• unexpected weight loss in the past 6 months

• heavy sweating at night

• high temperatures

Your type of Hodgkin lymphoma can also affect your prognosis. This is how the lymphoma cells look under a microscope.

Your general health and fitness also affect your survival. The fitter you are, the better you may be able to cope with treatment. Your doctor will consider your general health when choosing treatment.

Doctors use tools to predict your outlook.

Early stage (stage 1 and 2)

With early stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma, doctors often group people into a ‘favourable’ or ‘unfavourable’ group. To do this they consider:

• your age

• how big your lymph nodes (or tumours) are

• where Hodgkin lymphoma is in your body

• your blood test results

• your symptoms

Early stage unfavourable Hodgkin lymphoma is also called intermediate stage.

Advanced stage (stage 3 and 4)

For advanced stages, doctors often use a scale called the international prognostic score (IPS). It has 7 prognostic factors that doctors can use to predict how you might respond to treatment. The 7 factors are:

• being male
• being 45 years or older
• having stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma
• having a low red blood cell (haemoglobin ) level
• having a low protein (albumin ) level in your blood
• having a high white blood cell level
• having a low blood lymphocyte level. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell

You score one point for each factor. So your score is between 0 and 7. The IPS score helps doctors to decide your treatment and prognosis.

More statistics

Read more about understanding cancer statistics and incidence, mortality and survival statistics.

For more in depth information about survival and other statistics for Hodgkin lymphoma, go to our Cancer Statistics section.