HEAD CANCER PROGNOSIS

Oral Cavity

With early detection and immediate treatment, survival rates can be dramatically improved. For lip and oral cancer, if detected at its early stages, almost 80% of the patients survive five years or more. However, when diagnosed at the advanced stages, the five year survival rate drops to a mere 18%.

Nose and sinuses

Cancers of the nasal cavity often go undetected until they reach an advanced stage. If diagnosed at the early stages, the five-year survival rates are 60-70%. However, if cancers are more advanced, only 10-30% of the patients survive five years or more.

Oropharynx

In cancer of the oropharynx, 60-80% of the patients survive five years or more if the cancer is detected in the early stages. As the cancer advances, the survival rate drops to 15-30%.

Nasopharynx

Patients who are diagnosed with early stage cancers that have originated in the nasopharynx have an excellent chance of a complete cure (almost 95%). Unfortunately, most of the time, the patients are in an advanced stage at the time of initial diagnosis. With the new chemotherapy drugs, the five year survival rate has improved and 5-40% of the patients survive five years or longer.

Larynx

Small cancers of the larynx have an excellent five-year survival rate of 75-95%. However, as with most of the head and neck cancers, the survival rates drop dramatically as the cancer advances. Only 15-25% of the patients survive five years or more after being initially diagnosed with advanced laryngeal cancer.