Cancer survival statistics, 1992 to 2021

Released: 2025-08-13

Just over two in five people in Canada will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. The outlook for people who develop cancer can vary considerably depending on the type of cancer. While the average probability of surviving some cancers for at least five years exceeds 95%, for other cancers, it is less than 10%.

The net survival estimates presented in this release provide a measure of disease severity and prognosis. Specifically, "five-year net survival" refers to the percentage of people who were diagnosed with a cancer and survived five years past their date of diagnosis, assuming that the cancer of interest was the only possible cause of death (see Note to readers for more information).

Estimates are based on data from the Canadian Cancer Registry, covering cancer cases diagnosed from 1992 to 2021, linked to multiple sources of death information including the Canadian Vital Statistics — Death Database.

Survival highest for thyroid and testicular cancer

Predicted five-year net survival for the 2019-to-2021 period was highest for thyroid (97%) and testicular (96%) cancer. As the numbers would suggest, both cancers usually respond very well to treatment. Approximately three in four thyroid cancer cases were diagnosed among women, but their five-year survival (98%) was higher than that of men (94%).

Five-year net survival was also relatively high for prostate cancer (91%), breast cancer (90%) and melanomas of the skin (90%). These cancers are among the most commonly diagnosed cancers. While five-year survival for breast cancer was lower among men (75%) than women (90%), men constituted less than 1% of cases. Five-year survival was also higher among women (93%) than men (88%) for melanomas of the skin.

Survival lowest for mesothelioma and intrahepatic bile duct cancer

Five-year net survival was under 10% for both mesothelioma (8%) and intrahepatic bile duct cancer (9%) for the 2019-to-2021 period. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops in the thin layer of tissue that covers a majority of the body's internal organs. Intrahepatic bile duct cancer forms in the bile ducts in the liver. After these two cancers, pancreatic cancer was associated with the lowest five-year net survival (12%).

Mesothelioma, intrahepatic bile duct cancer and pancreatic cancer are typically diagnosed at an advanced stage, when the cancer has already spread from the site of origin and treatment options are limited. For mesothelioma and intrahepatic bile duct cancer, diagnosis can be delayed because symptoms are vague or like those of less serious illnesses. Pancreatic cancer often has no symptoms until it has spread to other organs of the body.

Approximately four in five cases of mesothelioma were diagnosed among men, whose five-year survival (6%) was lower than that of women (14%). There was no overall appreciable difference in five-year survival between the sexes for intrahepatic bile duct and pancreatic cancer.

Five-year net survival was also relatively low for cancers of the esophagus (18%) and brain (19%).

Survival for lung cancer doubles

Lung cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in Canada and survival has historically been quite poor. However, the five-year net survival for lung cancer more than doubled from 1992-to-1994 to 2019-to-2021. During this period, the five-year age-standardized (see Note to readers) net survival for lung cancer rose from 13% to 27%. Survival increased among both men (from 12% to 22%) and women (from 15% to 32%).

The improvements in lung cancer survival have been ascribed to advances in treatment. These include the increasing use of both molecular targeted therapy drugs—substances that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific key molecules—and immunotherapy, which uses medications to enhance the patient's own immune system to recognize and attack cancerous cells. Despite the progress achieved in survival, lung cancer remains the most common cause of cancer death in Canada, accounting for almost one-quarter (23%) of all cancer deaths in 2023.

Other cancers for which the age-standardized five-year net survival at least doubled from 1992-to-1994 to 2019-to-2021 are liver (from 9% to 24%), pancreatic (from 5% to 12%), acute myeloid leukemia (from 12% to 28%) and myeloma (from 27% to 54%). In addition to myeloma, the highest absolute increases in five-year survival were observed for chronic myeloid leukemia (from 35% to 61%), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (from 48% to 71%) and cancer of the small intestine (from 39% to 61%).

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).