While survival rates for leukemia vary dramatically from over 90% for some children to under 15% for elderly adults, the overarching story is one of remarkable progress, with the overall five-year survival rate in the US having nearly doubled since the 1970s.
Key Takeaways
- The 5-year relative survival rate for all leukemia patients diagnosed in the US between 2014-2020 is 65.7%
- The 5-year survival rate for leukemia in children aged 0-14 years from 2015-2019 data is 86.8%
- Overall 5-year survival for acute leukemias combined is approximately 40% in adults over 60
- The 5-year survival rate for children (0-14) with ALL is 91.2% in US SEER 2014-2020
- Infants under 1 year with ALL have 5-year survival of 79.5%
- Children aged 1-4 with ALL achieve 94.8% 5-year survival
- The 5-year survival for adults aged 20-39 with leukemia is 72.4%
- Adults 40-59 leukemia 5-year survival rate 55.1%
- Adults 60-69 with leukemia: 38.2% 5-year survival
- The 5-year survival for ALL overall is 72.5% US 2014-2020
- AML 5-year survival rate is 31.9% all ages
- CLL 5-year survival 88.2% per SEER 2014-2020
- ALL low-risk 5-year EFS 98%
- ALL high-risk 5-year EFS 85%
- AML favorable risk 5-year survival 65%
Survival rates vary widely based on leukemia type, location, and age.
Adult Survival Rates
- The 5-year survival for adults aged 20-39 with leukemia is 72.4%
- Adults 40-59 leukemia 5-year survival rate 55.1%
- Adults 60-69 with leukemia: 38.2% 5-year survival
- Elderly adults 70+ leukemia survival at 5 years is 14.9%
- Young adult ALL 20-29: 5-year survival 65.3%
- Adult ALL 30-39: 52.7% 5-year survival rate
- Men aged 20-49 with leukemia: 62% 5-year survival vs 68% women
- Adult Black patients leukemia 5-year survival 48.5%
- Adult Hispanic leukemia survival 60.2% at 5 years
- Adult Asian leukemia 5-year survival 68.9%
- Adults with CLL under 55: 95% 5-year survival
- Elderly CLL 75+: 5-year survival 12.6%
- Adult AML 60-69: 15% 5-year survival with standard chemo
- Hypomethylating agents in elderly AML improve 2-year survival to 35%
- Adult CML 40-59: 90% 5-year survival with TKIs
- Stem cell transplant in adults 18-40 AML: 55% 5-year survival
- UK adult ALL 5-year survival 40% 2010-2016
- European adult leukemia survival 45% at 5 years EUROCARE
- US adults 65+ with leukemia: 1-year survival 45%
- 10-year survival for adult ALL young patients 50%
- Adult de novo AML CR rate 70% with 30% 5-year OS
- Relapsed adult ALL 5-year survival post-transplant 40%
Adult Survival Rates Interpretation
While survival rates paint a stark picture of leukemia's increasing cruelty with age and subtype, they also tell a story of hard-won progress in certain brackets, revealing a battlefield where youth, specific genetics, and modern therapies can tilt the odds, though never erase the sobering realities of this disease.
Overall Survival Rates
- The 5-year relative survival rate for all leukemia patients diagnosed in the US between 2014-2020 is 65.7%
- The 5-year survival rate for leukemia in children aged 0-14 years from 2015-2019 data is 86.8%
- Overall 5-year survival for acute leukemias combined is approximately 40% in adults over 60
- The age-adjusted 5-year survival rate for leukemia increased from 34% in 1975 to 66% in 2020
- In Europe, the 5-year survival rate for leukemia patients is 47% based on CONCORD-3 study data up to 2015
- US national 10-year survival rate for leukemia survivors diagnosed 2004-2013 is 52.4%
- Global average 5-year survival for leukemia is estimated at 50-60% in high-income countries per GLOBOCAN 2020
- The 1-year survival rate for all leukemia types in the UK is 68% for diagnoses 2016-2020
- In Canada, 5-year net survival for leukemia is 58% from 2015-2017 data
- Australian 5-year survival for leukemia diagnosed 2014-2018 is 61.2%
- The 5-year survival rate for leukemia in Japan is 53.4% per 2015-2018 registry data
- In India, 5-year survival for leukemia is around 30-40% in urban centers per ICMR data 2012-2016
- Brazil's 5-year leukemia survival rate is 42% from 2010-2014 hospital data
- South Africa's leukemia 5-year survival is estimated at 35% in public sector patients 2015-2020
- China's urban 5-year leukemia survival improved to 41.5% from 2011-2015
- The 5-year survival rate for non-Hispanic white leukemia patients is 67.2%
- Black leukemia patients have a 5-year survival of 52.1% per SEER 2014-2020
- Hispanic leukemia patients show 5-year survival of 64.8%
- Asian/Pacific Islander leukemia 5-year survival is 70.3%
- American Indian/Alaska Native leukemia survival at 5 years is 58.4%
- Male leukemia patients have 5-year survival of 63.5% vs 68.2% for females 2014-2020
- Leukemia survival rate at 2 years is 75% overall in recent US cohorts
- 20-year leukemia survival rate for patients diagnosed under 45 is 55%
- In rural US areas, leukemia 5-year survival is 62% vs 67% urban
- Insured leukemia patients have 5-year survival 10% higher than uninsured
- Post-diagnosis 5-year survival for leukemia in Sweden is 58% 2000-2016
- Germany's leukemia 5-year survival reached 62% in 2015-2019
- France reports 5-year leukemia survival of 55% per 2018 data
- Italy's leukemia 5-year survival is 51% from 2010-2014 AIRTUM data
- Spain's 5-year net survival for leukemia is 48% 2008-2012
Overall Survival Rates Interpretation
It seems a child's prognosis is far brighter than an adult's, a grim reminder that while we've made incredible strides in survival rates over the decades, geography, genetics, and the color of one's skin remain stubborn and deadly arbiters of fate.
Pediatric Survival Rates
- The 5-year survival rate for children (0-14) with ALL is 91.2% in US SEER 2014-2020
- Infants under 1 year with ALL have 5-year survival of 79.5%
- Children aged 1-4 with ALL achieve 94.8% 5-year survival
- Pediatric ALL ages 5-9: 92.3% 5-year survival rate US 2014-2020
- Children 10-14 with ALL: 89.7% 5-year survival per SEER
- Adolescent 15-19 ALL survival at 5 years is 72.1%
- Boys under 15 with leukemia have 87.2% 5-year survival vs 86.4% girls
- White children with ALL: 92.5% 5-year survival
- Black children ALL 5-year survival 85.6%
- Hispanic pediatric ALL survival 89.2% at 5 years
- Asian children with leukemia: 90.1% 5-year survival
- Standard-risk pediatric ALL 5-year event-free survival 95%
- High-risk pediatric ALL 5-year survival 82% with intensified chemo
- Ph-like ALL in children: 5-year survival 74%
- Infant ALL with KMT2A rearrangement: 5-year survival 46%
- Boys aged 1-9 with ALL post-induction: 98% 2-year survival
- Girls 10-14 ALL: 88% 5-year relapse-free survival
- UK childhood ALL 5-year survival 91% 2010-2017
- European pediatric leukemia survival 85% at 5 years per EUROCARE-5
- Australian children 0-14 leukemia 5-year survival 88.5%
- Canadian pediatric ALL 5-year survival 93%
- Japanese children ALL 5-year survival 92.6% 2005-2012
- 10-year survival for pediatric ALL survivors is 88%
- Remission rate in pediatric AML is 90% with 5-year survival 65%
- Pediatric AML low-risk group 5-year survival 75%
Pediatric Survival Rates Interpretation
While these statistics are a testament to modern medicine’s remarkable progress against pediatric leukemia, they also starkly remind us that survival still depends on a cruel lottery of age, genetics, and ethnicity.
Survival by Risk Stage
- ALL low-risk 5-year EFS 98%
- ALL high-risk 5-year EFS 85%
- AML favorable risk 5-year survival 65%
- AML intermediate risk 40% 5-year survival
- AML adverse risk 15% 5-year survival
- CLL early stage (Binet A) 10-year survival 80%
- CLL advanced stage (Binet C) 5-year survival 25%
- Pediatric ALL standard risk age 1-9: 97% 5-year DFS
- Infant ALL very high risk: 5-year survival 50%
- Adult ALL poor risk cytogenetics: 25% 5-year OS
- AML NPM1 mutated without FLT3: 60% 5-year survival
- CLL IGHV mutated low risk: 95% 5-year PFS
- High IPSS-R MDS progressing to AML: 10% 2-year survival
- T-ALL CNS+ at diagnosis: 5-year survival 60% with prophylaxis
- CML low Sokal risk: 95% 8-year survival
- ALL MRD negative day 29: 98% 5-year survival
- AML ELN favorable: 5-year OS 66%
- Stage I CML: 98% 5-year response rate
- CLL TP53 mutated high risk: 2-year survival 70% with venetoclax
- Pediatric AML high allelic ratio FLT3: 40% 5-year survival
- Imatinib-treated CML major molecular response correlates with 95% 10-year survival
Survival by Risk Stage Interpretation
This array of numbers tells a triumphant story of precision warfare in hematology, where the specific enemy, its genetic armaments, and the timing of our counterattack dramatically shift the odds from near-certain victory to a desperate fight for inches.
Survival by Subtype
- The 5-year survival for ALL overall is 72.5% US 2014-2020
- AML 5-year survival rate is 31.9% all ages
- CLL 5-year survival 88.2% per SEER 2014-2020
- CML 5-year survival 70.6%
- Adult ALL 5-year survival 37.2%
- Pediatric AML 5-year survival 66.8%
- Indolent CLL Rai stage 0: 5-year survival 98%
- Aggressive CLL stage 4: 5-year survival 30%
- Ph+ ALL 5-year survival 45% with TKI chemo
- AML with t(8;21): 5-year survival 70%
- APL subtype AML: 90% 5-year survival with ATRA+chemo
- CML chronic phase 10-year survival 85% with imatinib
- Hairy cell leukemia 5-year survival 97%
- T-ALL subtype 5-year survival 75% in children
- B-ALL adults 5-year OS 40%
- AML secondary to MDS: 5-year survival 10%
- CLL with 17p deletion: 5-year survival 30% pre-ibrutinib
- CML blast crisis: 1-year survival 20%
- UK ALL 5-year survival 70%
- Canada AML 5-year survival 25%
Survival by Subtype Interpretation
These statistics are a sobering reminder that leukemia is not a single enemy, but a chaotic mosaic of battles where a patient's odds can swing from near-certain victory to a desperate fight based on a specific genetic typo and the era of medicine in which they find themselves.
Survival by Treatment
- Stem cell transplant in first remission CR1 for AML high-risk: 60% 5-year survival
- CAR-T therapy in relapsed B-ALL: 12-month survival 80%
- Ibrutinib in relapsed CLL high-risk: 5-year OS 83%
- Imatinib in newly diagnosed CML CP: 89% 5-year survival
- ATRA+arsenic in APL: 97% 5-year survival
- Blinatumomab in relapsed/refractory B-ALL adults: 43% 18-month survival
- Venetoclax+azacitidine in elderly AML unfit: 2-year survival 39%
- HSCT allogeneic in pediatric ALL high-risk: 80% 5-year LFS
- Dasatinib in Ph+ ALL: 2-year survival 64%
- Midostaurin added to chemo in FLT3+ AML: 5-year survival improved 8%
- Rituximab maintenance in CLL post-FCR: 10-year survival 80%
- Gemtuzumab ozogamicin in CD33+ AML: favorable risk OS 75%
- Ponatinib in T315I CML: 1-year survival 80%
- Inotuzumab ozogamicin in relapsed ALL: 5-year survival 27%
- Azacitidine in high-risk MDS: median survival 24 months
- Tisagenlecleucel CAR-T pediatric ALL: 12-month OS 96%
- FCR chemoimmunotherapy CLL fit patients: 10-year OS 80%
- CPX-351 in secondary AML: 1-year survival 66% vs 48%
- Bosutinib in CML post-imatinib: 5-year survival 85%
Survival by Treatment Interpretation
While the odds in this leukemia battleground vary from bleak to brilliant, each statistic represents a hard-fought trench in the larger war, reminding us that modern oncology is less about finding a single cure and more about deploying an ever-growing arsenal of precision weapons against a cunning enemy.
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