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Survival rates can give you an idea of what percentage of people with the same type and stage of cancer are still alive a certain length of time (usually 5 years) after they were diagnosed. They can’t tell you how long you will live, but they may help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that your treatment will be successful.
Keep in mind that survival rates are estimates and are often based on previous outcomes of large numbers of people who had a specific cancer, but they can’t predict what will happen in any person’s case. These statistics can be confusing and may lead you to have more questions. Ask your doctor how these numbers might apply to you.
A relative survival rate compares people with the same type and stage of cancer to people in the overall population. For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of liver cancer is 30%, it means that people who have that cancer are, on average, about 30% as likely as people who don’t have that cancer to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed.
The American Cancer Society relies on information from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, maintained by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), to provide survival statistics for different types of cancer.
The SEER database tracks 5-year relative survival rates for liver cancer in the United States, based on how far the cancer has spread. The SEER database, however, does not group cancers by AJCC TNM stages (stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, etc.). Instead, it groups cancers into localized, regional, and distant stages:
These numbers are based on people diagnosed with cancers of the liver (or intrahepatic bile ducts) between 2014 and 2020.
SEER* stage |
5-year relative survival rate |
Localized |
37% |
Regional |
13% |
Distant |
3% |
All SEER stages combined |
22% |
*SEER = Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
In general, survival rates are higher for people who can have surgery to remove their cancer, regardless of the stage. For example, studies have shown that patients with small, resectable (removable) tumors who do not have cirrhosis or other serious health problems are likely to do well if their cancers are removed. For people with early-stage liver cancers who have a liver transplant, the 5-year survival rate is in the range of 60% to 70%.
Developed by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2025. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2025.
National Cancer Institute. Cancer Stat Facts: Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Duct Cancer. 2024. Accessed at https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/livibd.html on September 19, 2024.
Tsoulfas G, Curley SA, Abdalla EK, Barnett CC, Hertl M. Liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma. UpToDate. 2024. Accessed at https://www.uptodate.com/contents/liver-transplantation-for-hepatocellular-carcinoma on December 9, 2024.
Last Revised: February 11, 2025
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.
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