Lung Cancer Life Expectancy
In general, life expectancy for asbestos lung cancer ranges from 7-16 months. Fortunately, lung cancer patients can receive treatments to improve their life expectancy and work toward becoming survivors. Some patients have lived for 25 years or more with the right medical care.
What Is the Life Expectancy of Lung Cancer?
The life expectancy of lung cancer is how long you are expected to live after a diagnosis.
Lung cancer has an average life expectancy of less than 2 years, which is less favorable than many other cancer types. However, treatments may help you outlive the average lung cancer life expectancy and become a long-term survivor.
Lung cancer life expectancy depends on many factors, like your health, the type of lung cancer you have, and cancer stage. Doctors will take all of these into account when coming up with a treatment plan to help you live longer.
Get a Free Lung Cancer Guide to explore treatments that can improve your life expectancy and find ways to pay for them.
- Understand risk factors
- Find top treatments
- Pursue compensation
Lung Cancer Life Expectancy vs. Survival Rate
Many people confuse the terms “life expectancy” and “survival rate.” While both are important parts of an asbestos lung cancer prognosis, they aren’t the same.
Lung cancer life expectancy is the amount of time doctors think you’ll live after a diagnosis. Survival rates measure the percentage of people with the same stage and type of cancer who are still alive after a set period of time, typically 5 years.
The average 5-year survival rate for lung cancer is over 28%, according to the American Lung Association (ALA). Treatment can help improve lung cancer survival rates and life expectancies.
Lung cancer patients can live anywhere from 7-16 months on average, depending on their treatment plan. In some cases, lung cancer life expectancy can exceed 20 years if the patient’s cancer responds well to treatments.
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Lung Cancer from Asbestos Life Expectancy
While most cases of lung cancer stem from smoking, many also develop this illness from a toxic material called asbestos. The asbestos cancer lung life expectancy is the same as in cases where no asbestos is involved, ranging from 7-16 months.
Doctors can help determine if you have asbestos lung cancer and from there recommend treatments to help you live longer.
Lung Cancer Life Expectancy by Type
Life expectancy varies with each of the three lung cancer types: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and lung carcinoids. Find the life expectancies for each type below.
Life Expectancy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer and is less aggressive than SCLC. The overall life expectancy for NSCLC is 11-13 months. NSCLC also has several subtypes, each with its own life expectancy.
Life expectancies for NSCLC subtypes include:
- Adenocarcinoma: 25.82 months
- Large cell carcinoma: 11-14.2 months
- Squamous cell carcinoma: 10.1-12.9 months
Diagnosed with NSCLC? Call (877) 446-5767 to learn if you qualify for compensation to pay for life-extending treatments.
Small Cell Lung Cancer Life Expectancy
Small cell lung cancer is much less common than NSCLC and is typically more aggressive. The life expectancy for SCLC is 7-16 months. You can live longer with SCLC if you’re diagnosed before the cancer has spread.
Lung Carcinoid Life Expectancy
Lung carcinoid tumors are very rare but are much easier to treat compared to NSCLC or SCLC. Patients with lung carcinoid tumors have an average life expectancy of 5 and a half years, according to a report from Lung Cancer.
Lung Cancer Life Expectancy by Stage
Lung cancer stage greatly affects life expectancy. If you’re diagnosed in an earlier stage, metastasis (cancer spread) won’t have occurred, so the cancer will be easier to treat, and you could live longer.
There are four stages of NSCLC and two stages of SCLC.
NSCLC life expectancy statistics by stage:
- Stage 1 and Stage 2: 33-55 months
- Stage 3: 12-28 months
- Stage 4 (metastatic): 4-9 months
SCLC life expectancy statistics by stage:
- Limited-stage SCLC: 12-16 months
- Extensive-stage SCLC: 7-11 months
Doctors can recommend treatments that may help you live longer no matter which stage of lung cancer you have.
Get a Free Lung Cancer Guide to find top treatments that can potentially improve your life expectancy.
- Understand risk factors
- Find top treatments
- Pursue compensation
What Affects Lung Cancer Life Expectancy?
Besides type and stage, many other factors unique to your case can affect your lung cancer life expectancy.
These factors include:
- Early detection: Tests like lung cancer screenings can help diagnose you at an earlier stage, sometimes even before symptoms appear. Getting an early lung cancer diagnosis makes the cancer easier to treat and can result in a longer life expectancy.
- Patient age: Your life expectancy may be better if you’re a younger person.
- Patient health: If you’re in good overall health at the time of diagnosis, you’re more likely to tolerate major treatments like surgery that can help you live longer.
- Patient sex: Women with lung cancer generally have slightly better outcomes than men.
Your doctor can explain how unique factors in your case may impact your asbestos lung cancer life expectancy.
How Treatments Improve Lung Cancer Life Expectancy
Different types of lung cancer treatments allow doctors to remove or shrink cancer tumors, improving your life expectancy and giving you more time to spend with loved ones.
Doctors typically combine different treatments to remove as much of the cancer as possible, which may boost a patient’s life expectancy.
Contact us now to find out if you qualify for lung cancer compensation. Asbestos lung cancer treatment costs can add up, but we’re here to help you afford them.
What Is Lung Cancer Life Expectancy Without Treatment?
Without any treatment, lung cancer patients can expect to live just a few months. Lung cancer is very aggressive, so it can spread and lead to death without any treatment.
Here are the average lung cancer life expectancies without treatment:
- NSCLC: NSCLC patients who did not receive treatment live for just over 7 months, according to Systematic Reviews.
- SCLC: Untreated SCLC patients live for 2-4 months, as noted by a study from Breathe.
Getting treatment may give you more time to make memories with your loved ones. Even patients who were diagnosed with advanced cancer have lived for many years in some cases.
Lung Cancer Survivors
Lung cancer survivors have outlived average life expectancies, becoming beacons of hope for others diagnosed.
Long-term lung cancer survivors include:
- Deborah, 25-year survivor: Deborah underwent lung cancer surgery less than a week after her adenocarcinoma diagnosis in 2000 and is still living today.
- David, 23-year survivor: A routine scan led to David’s diagnosis in the early 2000s.
- Jim, 20-year survivor: Jim was diagnosed with asbestos lung cancer and underwent aggressive treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
- Emily, 13-year survivor: Diagnosed with stage 4 NSCLC after never having smoked, Emily worked with top doctors to get treatments and has been cancer-free ever since.
Survivors like these give hope that it’s possible to beat the odds and live a long time with lung cancer, even if you’ve been given an unfavorable life expectancy at first.
Get a Free Lung Cancer Guide to hear from lung cancer survivors and see which treatments helped them.
- Understand risk factors
- Find top treatments
- Pursue compensation
Get Help Improving Your Lung Cancer Life Expectancy
With the right medical care, your asbestos lung cancer life expectancy could change for the better, giving you more precious time with the ones you love. It’s possible to live for 25 years or more, even with late-stage lung cancer, with treatment.
Lung cancer treatments can be costly, but our team may be able to help you pursue financial compensation to cover expenses. This allows you to focus on getting life-extending treatments without worrying about how to pay for them.
Call (877) 446-5767 or get a Free Lung Cancer Guide to explore treatments that could help you or a loved one live longer and explore financial compensation options.
Lung Cancer Life Expectancy FAQs
What is the life expectancy of someone with lung cancer?
Most lung cancer patients live 7-16 months after being diagnosed. However, it may be possible to live for 25 years or more with lung cancer depending on the specifics of your case.
You can improve your lung cancer life expectancy by getting treated soon after your diagnosis is confirmed.
What is the lung cancer vs. mesothelioma life expectancy?
Lung cancer has a better overall life expectancy than mesothelioma, which is a rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure. Most mesothelioma patients are diagnosed after the cancer has spread, by which point the average life expectancy can be as short as 12 months or less.
Still, medical care is available to help both lung cancer and mesothelioma patients potentially live longer following a diagnosis.
What is the stage 3 lung cancer immunotherapy life expectancy?
Immunotherapy could help stage 3 lung cancer patients live much longer. Stage 3 lung cancer patients who received immunotherapy and chemoradiation lived for 16 months cancer-free on average in the PACIFIC trial. One in 3 were still cancer-free 5 years after this treatment.
Doctors can determine if immunotherapy could help you or someone you love live longer with stage 3 lung cancer.
What is adenocarcinoma of the lungs life expectancy?
The average life expectancy of adenocarcinoma of the lung is nearly 26 months, according to Thoracic Cancer. The adenocarcinoma lung life expectancy is better for patients whose tumors haven’t metastasized (spread).
Is lung cancer usually terminal?
Lung cancer is not always terminal, even when it’s diagnosed in an advanced stage. You have a better chance of surviving lung cancer if you’re diagnosed and treated before the cancer spreads. However, treatments have helped many patients whose cancer was considered terminal to become long-term survivors.
Is lung cancer curable?
There isn’t a universal cure for lung cancer, but some patients are informally cured if doctors find no evidence of disease (NED) following treatments.
Early-stage lung cancer patients are more likely to achieve NED with aggressive treatments. It’s also possible to become cancer-free even if you’re in a later stage.
Get a Free Lung Cancer Guide to explore treatments that could improve your life expectancy.
What is the life expectancy for stage 3 lung cancer without treatment?
The life expectancy for stage 3 lung cancer without treatment can be less than 1 year. Treatment is essential to living longer with lung cancer. Without it, a stage 3 diagnosis can worsen to stage 4, by which point the tumors will have spread throughout the body and be hard to treat.
What is the stage 4 lung cancer life expectancy without treatment?
The stage 4 or metastatic lung cancer life expectancy without treatment is only a few months. Up to 30% of patients with stage 4 NSCLC die within 3 months if they don’t get treatment, according to Frontiers in Oncology.
