Survival
Survival depends on many different factors. It depends on your individual condition, type of neuroendocrine tumour (NET), treatment and level of fitness. So no one can tell you exactly how long you will live.
These are general statistics based on large groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case.
Your doctor can give you more information about your own outlook (prognosis).
What affects survival?
Survival depends on many factors. It depends on the stage and grade of the NET when it was diagnosed. The stage describes the size of the tumour and whether it has spread. The grade means how abnormal the cells look under a microscope.
It also depends on how well you are generally.
Number stages
The stage of a cancer tells you how big it is and whether it has spread. There are 4 stages of small bowel neuroendocrine tumours:
- stage 1
- stage 2
- stage 3
- stage 4
The grade of the tumour tells you how abnormal the cells look under the microscope.
Doctors talk about survival by stage and grade of small bowel NET.
Where this information comes from
Because small bowel neuroendocrine tumours are rare, there is less data available than for more common cancers.
The data presented here is for the 1 year survival of people with small bowel neuroendocrine tumours in England. Because this is from England only, it might not be the same for the whole of the UK.
We also have some information about the overall 5 year survival for people with small bowel neuroendocrine tumours. This is from a much smaller study. It is European data, so it might not be the same as the 5 year survival in the UK.
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 Office for National Statistics (ONS) 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 for all stages of small bowel NET
Around 90 out of 100 people (around 90%) survive for 1 year or more.
1-year survival rates for neuroendocrine tumour patients in England
T Genus and others
Public Health England, 2017
Around 89 out of every 100 people (around 89%) people survive for 5 years or more.
This 5 year survival rate was taken from a European study that looked at 270 people diagnosed with a gut neuroendocrine tumour between 1984 and 2008.
Neuroendocrine tumours of midgut and hindgut origin: tumour-node-metastasis classification determines clinical outcome
H Jann and others
Cancer, 2011
Volume 117
Survival for stage 1
Around 98 out of 100 people (around 98%) survive for 1 year or more.
1-year survival rates for neuroendocrine tumour patients in England
T Genus and others
Public Health England, 2017
Survival for stage 2
Around 96 out of 100 people (around 96%) survive for 1 year or more.
1-year survival rates for neuroendocrine tumour patients in England
T Genus and others
Public Health England, 2017
Survival for stage 3
Around 96 out of 100 people (around 96%) who have a stage 3 tumour, which is grade 1 or grade 2, survive for 1 year or more.
Around 80 out of 100 people (around 80%) who have a stage 3 tumour, which is grade 3, survive for 1 year or more.
1-year survival rates for neuroendocrine tumour patients in England
T Genus and others
Public Health England, 2017
Survival for stage 4
Around 88 out of 100 people (around 88%) who have a stage 4 tumour, which is grade 1 or grade 2, survive for 1 year or more.
Around 71 out of every 100 people (around 71%) who have a stage 4 tumour, which is grade 3, survive for 1 year or more.
1-year survival rates for neuroendocrine tumour patients in England
T Genus and others
Public Health England, 2017
