Cancer Survival Statistics

Five-Year Relative Survival Rates for Selected Cancers by Race and Stage at Diagnosis, United States, 2001 to 2007.

*The standard error of the survival rate is between 5 and 10 percentage points.†The survival rate for carcinoma in situ of the urinary bladder is 97% for All Races and Whites and 92% for African Americans.

"Distant: Refers to cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to distant organs or distant lymph nodes."
The data is from the US. Source: Siegel, Naishadham, Jemal (2012). 

The authors say:

Compared with whites, African American men and women have poorer survival once cancer is diagnosed. The 5-year relative survival is lower in African Americans than in whites for every stage of diagnosis for nearly every type of cancer (Fig. 7). These disparities may result from inequalities in access to and receipt of quality health care and/or from differences in comorbidities. As shown in Figure 8, African Americans are less likely than whites to be diagnosed with cancer at a localized stage, when the disease may be more easily and successfully treated. The extent to which factors other than stage at diagnosis contribute to the overall survival differential is unclear.30 However, some studies suggest that African Americans who receive cancer treatment and medical care similar to that of whites experience similar outcomes.31 

There have been notable improvements since 1975 in the relative 5-year survival rates for most cancers for both whites and African Americans (Table 11). Increases in survival rates over time reflect a combination of earlier diagnosis and improvements in treatment. Cancers of the lung and pancreas have shown little improvement in survival over the past 30 years.