So what’s the verdict? Which is the MOST fatal cancer today?
If defining “most fatal” cancer means which cancer has the worst 5-year survival rate, then it would be a tie between malignant mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer. Malignant mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer in the US, with about 3,000 cases a year.
Yet there are a few differences in survival rates for these two cancers, depending on the stage when it’s diagnosed. For example, the 5-year survival rate for localized pancreatic cancer is 44%, and localized malignant mesothelioma is 22%.
But, when we combine the statistics for all three stages (localized, regional, and distant), both types of cancer have a 5-year relative survival rate of 12%.
Now, keep in mind that these survival rates don’t apply for after diagnosis, which is when the cancer spreads, grows, or returns after treatment.
Treatments improve as time goes on, and these numbers are based on those who were diagnosed and treated at least five years earlier.
We hope you found this article on aggressive cancer types informative. For more like this, we highly recommend you also read: 12 Scary Bladder Cancer Risk Factors You MUST Know About
