Survival for mouth and oropharyngeal cancer
This page is about survival for mouth (oral cavity) cancer and oropharyngeal cancer.
Mouth cancer can start in different parts of the mouth, including the lips, gums, or soft sides of the mouth.
Oropharyngeal cancer starts in the oropharynx. The oropharynx is the part of the throat (pharynx) just behind the mouth. It includes tonsil cancer and cancer in the back part of the tongue.
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 mouth and oropharyngeal cancer survival by stage.
The statistics below come from America. They come from the National Cancer Institute's SEER programme. They are for people diagnosed with mouth and oropharyngeal cancer between 2011 and 2017.
Please be aware that these figures might not be a true picture of survival in the UK. This is due to differences in American health care systems, data collection, and the population.
The American statistics are split into 3 stage groups – localised, regional and distant cancers. In the UK, your doctor might not use these terms. Instead, they might describe your cancer as a number stage (stage 1 to 4). The following descriptions are a guide to help you understand whether your cancer is localised, regional or distant. This isn’t straightforward and will depend on your individual situation. Talk to your specialist if you are unsure which group you are in.
There are 3 groups:
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localised cancers have not spread into nearby lymph nodes
-
regional cancers have spread into nearby lymph nodes or surrounding tissue
-
distant cancers have spread to other parts of the body, away from the mouth and oropharynx
The statistics are also split into groups depending on where the cancer is:
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floor of mouth
-
lips
-
oropharynx
-
tongue
The survival figures here are for the floor of the mouth. This is the part of the mouth under your tongue.
Localised
Almost 75 out of 100 people (almost 75%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Regional
Around 40 out of 100 people (around 40%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Distant
Almost 25 out of 100 people (almost 25%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Localised
Almost 95 out of 100 people (almost 95%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Regional
65 out of 100 people (65%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Distant
Almost 35 out of 100 people (almost 35%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
The oropharynx is the part of the throat just behind the mouth. It includes:
• back third of the tongue
• soft area at the back of the roof of the mouth (soft palate)
• tonsils and 2 ridges of tissue in front of and behind the tonsils (tonsillar pillars)
• back wall of the throat
Localised
Around 60 out of 100 people (around 60%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Regional
Around 60 out of 100 people (around 60%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Distant
Almost 30 out of 100 people (almost 30%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Some oropharyngeal cancers are caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). These are HPV positive oropharyngeal cancers. The survival figures on this page are not based on the HPV status of oropharyngeal cancers.
This includes the front two thirds of your tongue. The part you see when you poke your tongue out.
Localised
Almost 85 out of 100 people (almost 85%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Regional
Around 70 out of 100 people (around 70%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed
Distant
Around 40 out of 100 people (around 40%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Survival rates for mouth and oropharyngeal cancer, American Cancer Society website, accessed August 2022.
The American Cancer Society relies on information from the SEER database, maintained by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
These statistics are for relative survival. Relative survival takes into account that some people will die of causes other than cancer. The statistics are from America. They calculate relative survival using the general survival of the US population. This might not be a true picture of general survival in the UK population.
Survival by site of tumour
Survival for mouth and oropharyngeal cancer depends on where the cancer is.
Mouth (oral cavity) cancer can start in different parts of the mouth, including the lips, gums, or soft sides of the mouth.
These statistics are for people diagnosed in England between 2009 and 2013.
For all mouth (oral cavity) cancers:
- more than 75 out of 100 people (more than 75%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after they are diagnosed
- around 55 out of 100 people (around 55%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis
For all oropharyngeal cancers:
Oropharyngeal cancer starts in the oropharynx. The oropharynx is the part of the throat (pharynx) just behind the mouth.
- more than 75 out of 100 (more than 75%) survive their cancer for a year or more after diagnosis
- almost 60 out of 100 (almost 60%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis
For tongue cancers:
- almost 80 out of 100 (almost 80%) survive their cancer for a year or more after diagnosis
- almost 60 out of 100 (almost 60%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis
Net survival and the probability of cancer death from rare cancers.
P Muller and others
Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
(accessed August 2022)
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.
What affects survival
Your outcome depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread.
The outlook also depends on which part of the mouth or oropharynx is involved.
Some oropharyngeal cancers are caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). Oropharyngeal cancers that contain HPV tend to do better than oropharyngeal cancers that don’t contain HPV.
More statistics
You can read more in our Cancer Statistics section. The information covers head and neck cancers. This includes mouth and oropharyngeal cancers.
