Survival for mouth and oropharyngeal cancer

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. 

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 NHS, other health organisations, 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.

What affects survival

Your outlook depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread.

The outlook also depends on which part of the mouth or oropharynx is involved.

Some oropharyngeal cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Oropharyngeal cancers that contain HPV tend to have a better outlook than oropharyngeal cancers that don’t contain HPV. This is even for stage 3 and 4 cancers.

Smoking during radiotherapy affects the ability of the treatment to cure the cancer. So it is important to stop smoking before treatment. 

Your general health and fitness also affect survival. The fitter you are, the better you may be able to cope with your cancer and treatment.

Survival by stage

The stage of a cancer tells you about its size and whether it has spread. Your outlook (prognosis) depends on the stage of your cancer at diagnosis. 

There are no UK-wide statistics available for mouth and oropharyngeal cancer survival by stage.

Survival statistics are available for each stage of mouth and oropharyngeal cancer in England. These figures are for people diagnosed between 2014 and 2016. These statistics are non-age-standardised, which means they don't take into account the age of the people with mouth and oropharyngeal cancer. 

Mouth (oral cavity) cancers

The different parts of the mouth include the:

• lips

• inside lining of the cheeks and lips (buccal mucosa)

• front two thirds of the tongue

• gums (gingiva)

• floor of the mouth

• roof of the mouth (hard palate)

• area behind the wisdom teeth (retromolar trigone)

The statistics below are for all the parts of the mouth (oral cavity) apart from the outer (external) lips. No statistics are available for survival by stage for external lip cancer.

Stage 1

More than 85 out of 100 people (more than 85%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 2

Around 70 out of 100 people (around 70%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 3

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

Stage 4 

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

Oropharyngeal cancers

The oropharynx includes the:

• back one third of the tongue

• soft area at the back of the roof of the mouth (soft palate)

• tonsils and 2 ridges of tissue in front of and behind the tonsils (tonsillar pillars)

• back wall of the throat

Stage 1

Around 75 out of 100 people (around 75%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 2

More than 70 out of 100 people (more than 70%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 3 

75 out of 100 people (75%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 4

Almost 65 out of 100 people (almost 65%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Survival for all stages

External lip cancers

Generally, for people with external lip cancer in England:

• almost all (almost 100%) will survive their cancer for 1 year or more after they are diagnosed
• 90 out of every 100 (90%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis

Mouth (oral cavity) cancers

Generally, for people with mouth cancer in England:

• around 80 out of every 100 (around 80%) will survive their cancer for 1 year or more after they are diagnosed
• around 60 out of every 100 (around 60%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis 

Oropharyngeal cancers

Generally, for people with oropharyngeal cancer in England:

• almost 85 out of every 100 (almost 85%) will survive their cancer for 1 year or more after they are diagnosed
• 65 out of every 100 (65%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis

More statistics

For more in-depth information about survival and mouth and oropharyngeal cancer, go to our Cancer Statistics section.