Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rates

Pancreatic cancer is a serious and increasingly prevalent health concern worldwide. It is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. If you or a loved one has been impacted by pancreatic cancer and would like to learn more about it, knowing these cancer statistics may give you a better understanding of this disease and why it is so deadly.

As with all cancers, it is difficult to guarantee outcomes for pancreatic cancer. A general guide would be to look at the five-year relative survival rates for pancreatic cancer, which reflect the percentage of people with the same type and stage of cancer that are alive five years after their initial diagnosis, compared with people in the general population.

Based on people diagnosed with the disease between 2015 and 2021, the overall five-year relative survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 13%. The survival rate for each stage is as follows*:

These survival statistics are only estimates that describe trends in large groups of people previously diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. They cannot be used to accurately predict what will happen to you because each case of pancreatic cancer is unique and different. These estimates also don’t consider factors that have an impact on your pancreatic cancer prognosis, such as your age, overall health and response to treatment.

On top of that, relative survival rate statistics are usually measured every five years. This means that current estimates may not reflect the benefits of recent advancements in cancer treatment, and people being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer today may have a better outlook than these numbers suggest.

*This information is based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, maintained by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). It tracks five-year relative survival rates for pancreatic cancer in the United States, based on how far the cancer has spread or metastasized. Instead of classifying cancers according to the AJCC TNM stage, the SEER database categorizes pancreatic cancers into three stages: localized, regional and distant. These stages are determined at the time of initial diagnosis.

Localized: There is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the pancreas.

Regional: The cancer has spread outside the pancreas to nearby structures or lymph nodes.

Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the lungs, liver or bones.