The nurse knows the mortality rate is high in lung cancer clients due to which factor?

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. 

Your doctor can give you more information about your own outlook (prognosis). You can also talk about this with the Cancer Research UK 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 lung cancer or individual treatments. These figures are for survival by stage in England for people diagnosed between 2013 and 2017.

Stage 1

More than 55 out of 100 people (more than 55%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 2

Around 35 out of 100 people (around 35%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis. 

Stage 3

Almost 15 out of 100 people (almost 15%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis. 

Stage 4

Almost 5 out of 100 people (almost 5%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed. 

Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics

These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2013 and 2017. 

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

Generally for people with lung cancer in England:

  • around 40 out of every 100 people (around 40%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis
  • around 15 out of every 100 people (around 15%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis
  • 10 out of every 100 people (10%) will survive their cancer for 10 years or more after diagnosis

Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics

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 type of lung cancer that you have and also the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread.

Your general health and fitness might also affect survival. Doctors call this your performance status. A score of 0 means you are completely able to look after yourself. A score of 1 means you can do most things for yourself but need some help. The scores continue to go up, depending on how much help you need. People with a higher score may have a poorer outlook.

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.

For more in-depth information about survival and lung cancer

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Lung cancer is the 2nd most common cancer worldwide.

Latest lung cancer data

Lung cancer is the 2nd most common cancer worldwide. It is the most common cancer in men and the 2nd most common cancer in women.

There were more than 2.2 million new cases of lung cancer in 2020.

The 10 countries with the highest rates of lung cancer and the highest number of deaths from lung cancer in 2020 are shown in the tables below.

ASR = age-standardised rates. These are a summary measure of the rate of disease that a population would have if it had a standard age structure. Standardisation is necessary when comparing populations that differ with respect to age because age has a powerful influence on the risk of dying from cancer.

Lung cancer rates

The following 3 tables show total global cancer incidence and rates in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Hungary had the highest overall rate of lung cancer in 2020, followed by Serbia.

Rank Country Number ASR/100,000
World 2,206,771 22.4
1 Hungary 10,274 50.1
2 Serbia 8,048 47.3
3 France, New Caledonia 166 42.9
4 French Polynesia 144 40.4
5 Turkey 41,264 40.0
6 Montenegro 443 39.7
7 Belgium 9,646 38.3
8 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,513 37.8
9 North Korea 13,672 37.0
10 Denmark 5,047 36.8
Rank (men) Country Number ASR/100,000
World 1,435,943 31.5
1 Turkey 34,207 74.8
2 Serbia 5,409 68.0
3 Hungary 5,812 66.6
4 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,984 64.7
5 Montenegro 318 61.2
6 France, New Caledonia 110 59.9
7 Armenia 1,101 56.8
8 Greece 6,786 56.3
9 French Polynesia 100 55.3
10 Slovakia 2,531 54.3
Rank (women) Country Number ASR/100,000
World 770,828 14.6
1 Hungary 4,462 38.1
2 Denmark 2,648 36.8
3 The Netherlands 6,450 33.5
4 Ireland 1,628 32.9
5 US 111,540 30.4
6 UK 25,040 29.9
7 Serbia 2,639 29.8
8 Iceland 107 29.6
9 North Korea 6,470 28.7
10 Brunei 56 28.0

Lung cancer deaths

The following 3 tables show total global lung cancer mortality in 2020, followed by the figures for men and women. Hungary had the highest overall mortality rate from lung cancer in 2020, followed by Serbia.

Rank Country Number ASR/100,000
World 1,796,144 18.0
1 Hungary 8,920 42.4
2 Serbia 7,084 40.0
3 French Polynesia 129 36.0
4 Turkey 37,070 35.9
5 Guam 86 35.1
6 Poland 27,444 32.8
7 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,240 32.1
8 Montenegro 370 31.6
9 France, New Caledonia 124 31.4
10 Croatia 2,984 30.9
Rank (men) Country Number ASR/100,000
World 1,188,679 25.9
1 Turkey 30,749 67.5
2 Serbia 4,892 59.6
3 Hungary 5,200 58.6
4 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,773 55.8
5 Armenia 1,026 52.4
6 Guam 56 49.7
7 Croatia 2,122 49.4
8 Montenegro 265 49.3
9 French Polynesia 88 48.5
10 Poland 17,461 48.4
Rank (women) Country Number ASR/100,000
World 607,465 11.2
1 Hungary 3,720 30.6
2 Denmark 1,895 25.2
3 Serbia 2,192 23.6
4 The Netherlands 4,864 22.9
5 Guam 30 22.8
6 North Korea 5,294 22.6
7 French Polynesia 41 22.6
8 Canada 10,455 21.2
9 Poland 9,983 21.2
10 Brunei 40 20.6

What causes lung cancer?

Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. There is evidence that the following are also associated with an increased risk of lung cancer: previous lung disease, occupational exposure and indoor air pollution.

There is also strong evidence that:

  • drinking water containing arsenic INCREASES the risk of lung cancer
  • in current and former smokers, taking high-dose beta-carotene supplements INCREASES the risk of lung cancer

There is some evidence that:

  • consuming red meat, processed meat and alcoholic drinks might increase the risk of lung cancer
  • in current smokers and former smokers, consuming vegetables and fruit might decrease the risk of lung cancer
  • consuming foods containing retinol, beta-carotene or carotenoids might decrease the risk of lung cancer
  • in current smokers, consuming foods containing vitamin C might decrease the risk of lung cancer
  • in people who have never smoked, consuming foods containing isoflavones (constituent of plants with oestrogen-like properties) might decrease the risk of lung cancer
  • being physically active might decrease the risk of lung cancer

> Read more about what can cause and what can protect against lung cancer

Notes

The data on this page comes from the Global Cancer Observatory, owned by the World Health Organization/International Agency for Research on Cancer, and is used with permission. The cancer incidence figures and ASRs were compiled using the data available here (last accessed 23 March 2022). For queries about our cancer statistics please email the Research Interpretation team: .