Cervical cancer statistics and outlook
This page is about statistics and what they can tell us about the outlook for people with cervical cancer. There is information about
Cervical cancer statistics and outlook
Outlook means your chances of getting better. Your doctor may call this your prognosis. With cervical cancer, the likely outcome depends on how advanced the cancer is when it is diagnosed (the stage).
We have included quite detailed information about the likely outcome of different stages of cervical cancer. The statistics we use are taken from a variety of sources, including the opinions and experience of the experts who check every section of CancerHelp UK. They are intended as a general guide only. For the more complete picture in your case, you’d have to speak to your own specialist.
We include statistics because people ask for them, but not everyone wishes to read this type of information.
How reliable are cancer statistics?
No statistics can tell you what will happen to you. Your cancer is unique. The same type of cancer can grow at different rates in different people. The statistics cannot tell you about the different treatments people may have had, or how that treatment may have affected their prognosis. There are many individual factors that will affect your treatment and your outlook.
This page contains quite detailed information about the survival rates of different stages of cervical cancer. We have included it because many people have asked us for this. But not everyone who is diagnosed with a cancer wishes to read this type of information. If you are not sure whether you want to know at the moment or not, then perhaps you might like to skip this page for now. You can always come back to it.
Please note: There are no national statistics available for different stages of cancer or treatments that people may have received. The statistics we present here are pulled together from a variety of different sources, including the opinions and experience of the experts that check each section of CancerHelp UK. We provide statistics because people ask us for them. But they are only intended as a general guide and cannot be regarded as any more than that.
There is a section explaining more about the different types of cancer statistics in CancerHelp UK. Unless you are very familiar with medical statistics, it might help to read this before you read the statistics below.
Remember - statistics are averages based on large numbers of patients. They cannot predict exactly what will happen to you. Everyone is different and response to treatment also varies from one person to another.
You should feel free to ask your doctor about your prognosis, but not even your doctor can tell you for sure what will happen. You may hear your doctor use the term ‘5 year survival’. This doesn't mean you will only live 5 years. It relates to the proportion of people in research studies who were still alive 5 years after diagnosis. Doctors follow what happens to people for 5 years after treatment in any research study. This is because there is only a small chance that cervical cancer will come back more than 5 years after treatment. They do not like to say these people are cured because there is that small chance. So the term ‘5 year survival’ is used instead.
As with many other types of cancer, the outcome depends on how advanced your cancer is when it is diagnosed. In other words, the stage of your cancer. Since the 1970s, the number of deaths from cervical cancer in the UK has been falling. The main reason for this is the introduction of the national screening programme in the 1960s. Regular screening has meant that precancerous changes and early stage cervical cancers have been picked up and treated early. Figures suggest that cervical screening is saving 5,000 lives each year in the UK by preventing cervical cancer.
Of all those women diagnosed with cancer of the cervix, about 68 out of every 100 (68%) will live for at least 5 years. About 66 women out of every 100 will live for more than 10 years after diagnosis. Younger women have a better survival rate than older women. This is at least partly because in younger women the disease tends to be diagnosed at an earlier stage.
The links below take you down the page to specific information about the outlook for each stage of cervical cancer.
Stage 1
Stage 1 cervical cancer means the cancer is only in the cervix. It is is now divided into 4 groups: stage 1A1, stage 1A2, stage 1B1 and stage 1B2, depending on the size of the cancer. The outcome or chance of being cured is better the earlier the cancer is detected. Smaller cancers have a better prognosis. The smallest tumours of only a few millimetres (stage 1A1) are very unlikely to recur and have a cure rate of 98 to 99%, if they are completely removed. For stage 1A2 cancers the cure rate is between 95 and 98%. For stage 1B1 cancers the cure rate is between 90 to 95%. A stage 1B2 cervical cancer, which may be up to 4cm in diameter, still has a very good chance of cure. 8 out of 10 women (80%) with stage 1B2 cervical cancer will be cured.
Stage 2
Stage 2 means that the cancer has spread to tissue close to the cervix. It is divided into 2 groups: stages 2A and 2B . For all those women diagnosed with stage 2A cervical cancer, between 7 and 9 out of 10 women (70 to 90%) will be alive 5 years later.
For stage 2B the figures are slightly lower. Between 6 and 7 out of every 10 women (60 to 70%) will be alive 5 years after diagnosis.
Stage 3
Stage 3 means the cancer has spread to the lower vagina or side of the pelvis. As you might expect, the survival statistics fall with the more advanced stages of cervical cancer. Between 3 and 5 out of 10 women (30 to 50%) live at least five years after a diagnosis of stage 3 cervical cancer
Stage 4
Stage 4 means the cancer has spread to distant organs or into the bladder or bowel. As it is the most advanced stage, the survival statistics are lowest for stage 4 cervical cancers. 20 out of 100 women (20%) will live 5 years or longer with sta4 cervocal cancer. These are figures for all stage 4 cervical cancers. The figures will be higher for those with stage 4A cancers and lower for those with stage 4B cancers.
There are other factors that can affect your prognosis, apart from the stage of your cancer. For example, how well you are overall. Doctors have a way of grading how well you are. They 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.
If you are weak from losing weight or being in pain, and feel very tired, you will need more day to day help, so your performance score will be at least 1. You may see performance status written ‘PS’.
No statistics can tell you what will happen to you. Your cancer is unique and so are you. The same type of cancer can grow at different rates in different people. The statistics are not detailed enough to tell you about the different treatments people may have had. And how that treatment may have affected their prognosis. Chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy may help people to live longer, as well as relieving their symptoms. There are many individual factors that will determine your treatment and prognosis. If you are fit enough to have treatment, you are likely to do better than average, particular if your cancer is more advanced.
People treated at centres where clinical trials are taking place tend to do better. This is almost certainly because that is where the most expertise is concentrated - research is more likely to take place in specialist centres. For those in the trials, it may be partly to do with having a closer eye kept on them by their doctors than they might if not in a trial - more scans and blood tests for example. But it might also be something to do with morale. You may feel more positive if you are taking part in a trial because it is more obvious to you that something is being done to help you. To find cervical cancer trials look in our clinical trials database.
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