Survival for lung cancer
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 record 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 lung cancer survival by stage.
Survival statistics are available for each stage of lung cancer in England. These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2016 and 2020. These statistics are non-age-standardised which means they don't take into account the age of the people with lung cancer.
Stage 1
Almost 65 out of 100 people (almost 65%) with stage 1 lung cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
Stage 2
Around 40 out of 100 people (around 40%) with stage 2 lung cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
Stage 3
Around 15 out of 100 people (around 15%) with stage 3 lung cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
Stage 4
Around 5 out of 100 people (around 5%) with stage 4 lung cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
Cancer survival in England, cancers diagnosed 2016 to 2020, followed up to 2021
NHS England
These figures are for people diagnosed with lung cancer 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 lung cancer
The UK survival statistics come from England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have a similar population and health care system. So we can apply these survival statistics to the whole of the UK.
Generally for adults with lung cancer in the UK:
- almost 45 of every 100 (almost 45%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more
- more than 15 out of every 100 (more than 15%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more
- around 10 out of every 100 (around 10%) survive their cancer for 10 years or more
Trends over 48 years in a one-number index of survival for all cancers combined, England and Wales (1971–2018): a population-based registry study
M Coleman and others
The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 2025. Volume 56, Article number 101385
These figures are for people diagnosed with cancer in England and Wales between 1971 and 2018, followed up to 2019 using individual records from the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) for England, and the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU).
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.
Conditional survival for lung cancer
For some cancer types, prognosis improves as time passes. For example, your chances of surviving your cancer for a total of 5 years or more after diagnosis are higher if you have already survived a year since diagnosis. Doctors call this conditional survival. It gives an updated picture of your prognosis. It takes into account how long you have already survived since diagnosis.
For people in England who survive their lung cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis:
- around 45 out of 100 people (around 45%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more
Conditional survival estimates how likely it is that you will survive your cancer for a further 4 years or more after surviving 1 year.
Conditional survival
1 and 5 year conditional survival for patients diagnosed in England, 2015-2019
Cancer Research UK - National Disease Registration Service partnership
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2015 and 2019. They 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.
These conditional survival statistics don’t take into account the age of the people with lung cancer. Conditional survival statistics that do take into account the age (age-standardised statistics) are not available.
Without age standardisation, the survival differences between patient groups can be influenced by the age of the people, in addition to their disease progression or treatment.
We should not use these non age-standardised figures to compare survival with other groups, such as different cancer types, stages, or populations from other countries.
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 can also affect your survival. The type means which type of cell the cancer started from.
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.
For lung cancer, gene changes (mutations) can also affect survival. You will have a test called the FISH test to look for any gene changes.
More statistics
For more in-depth information about survival and lung cancer, go to our Cancer Statistics section.
