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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 amount of time (usually 5 years) after they were diagnosed. Survival rates 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 particular person’s case. These statistics can be confusing and may lead you to have more questions. Ask your doctor, who is familiar with your situation, how these numbers may apply to you.
A relative survival rate compares people with the same type and stage of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) to people in the overall population. For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of NHL is 70%, it means that people who have that cancer are, on average, about 70% as likely as people who don’t have that cancer to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed.
The P站视频 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 NHL in the United States, based on how far the cancer has spread. The SEER database, however, does not group cancers by the Lugano classification (stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, etc.). Instead, it groups cancers into localized, regional, and distant stages:
The overall 5-year relative survival rate for people with NHL is 74%. But it’s important to keep in mind that survival rates can vary widely for different types and stages of lymphoma.
Below are the 5-year relative survival rates for the two most common types of NHL in the United States – diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL) – based on people diagnosed between 2012 and 2018.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
SEER stage |
5-year relative survival rate |
Localized |
73% |
Regional |
74% |
Distant |
58% |
All SEER stages combined |
65% |
Follicular lymphoma
SEER stage |
5-year relative survival rate |
Localized |
97% |
Regional |
91% |
Distant |
87% |
All SEER stages combined |
90% |
For some types of lymphoma, the stage isn’t too helpful in determining a person’s prognosis (outlook). In these cases, other factors can give doctors a better idea about a person’s prognosis.
The International Prognostic Index (IPI) was first developed to help doctors determine the outlook for people with fast-growing (aggressive) lymphomas. However, it has proven useful for most other lymphomas as well (other than slow-growing [indolent] follicular lymphomas, which are discussed below). The IPI allows doctors to plan treatment better than they could just based on the type and stage of the lymphoma. This has become more important as new, more effective treatments have been developed that sometimes have more side effects. The index helps doctors figure out whether these treatments are needed.
The index depends on 5 factors:
Good prognostic factors |
Poor prognostic factors |
Age 60 or below |
Age above 60 |
Stage I or II |
Stage III or IV |
No lymphoma outside of lymph nodes, or lymphoma in only 1 area outside of lymph nodes |
Lymphoma is in more than 1 organ of the body outside of lymph nodes |
PS: Able to function normally |
PS: Needs a lot of help with daily activities |
Serum LDH is normal |
Serum LDH is high |
Each poor prognostic factor is assigned 1 point. People without any poor prognostic factors would have a score of 0, while those with all poor prognostic factors would have a score of 5. The index divides people with lymphomas into 4 risk groups:
The IPI is useful for most lymphomas, but it’s not as helpful for follicular lymphomas, which tend to be slower growing. Doctors have developed the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) specifically for this type of lymphoma. It uses slightly different prognostic factors than the IPI.
Good prognostic factors |
Poor prognostic factors |
Age 60 or below |
Age above 60 |
Stage I or II |
Stage III or IV |
Blood hemoglobin 12 g/dL or above |
Blood hemoglobin level below 12 g/dL |
4 or fewer lymph node areas affected |
More than 4 lymph node areas affected |
Serum LDH is normal |
Serum LDH is high |
Patients are assigned a point for each poor prognostic factor. People without any poor prognostic factors would have a score of 0, while those with all poor prognostic factors would have a score of 5. The index then divides people with follicular lymphoma into 3 groups:
For both the IPI and FLIPI, people in the low-risk group tend to have a better prognosis than those in the high-risk group.
The P站视频 medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as editors and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
P站视频. Cancer Facts & Figures 2023. Atlanta: P站视频; 2023.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Practice Guidelines in Oncology: B-Cell Lymphomas. Version 6.2023. Accessed at https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/b-cell.pdf on November 30, 2023.
Ruhl JL, Callaghan C, Hurlbut, A, Ries LAG, Adamo P, Dickie L, Schussler N (eds.) Summary Stage 2018: Codes and Coding Instructions, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 2018.
SEER*Explorer: An interactive website for SEER cancer statistics [Internet]. Surveillance Research Program, National Cancer Institute. Accessed at https://seer.cancer.gov/explorer/ on February 23, 2023.
Solal-Celigny P, Roy P, Colombat P, et al. Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index. Blood. 2004;104:1258-1265.
Last Revised: February 15, 2024
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