What Are the 10 Most Curable Cancers?

Advances in cancer detection and treatment mean more people are surviving cancer, especially when it’s caught early. Some of the most curable cancers include thyroid, prostate, and testicular cancer.

The number of cancer survivors in the United States is growing. This may be related to an aging population, but it also reflects advances in early detection and treatment. In general, cancer is easiest to treat when diagnosed early.

This article reviews cancers with the highest 5-year relative survival rates when diagnosed in the early stages.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) explains that “cured” means there’s no evidence of cancer, you don’t need more treatment, and cancer isn’t expected to return. But a doctor can never be 100% certain that cancer won’t return.

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) , some doctors may say you’re cured if you’re in complete remission for 5 years or more. For most cancers, recurrences are most likely in the first 5 years. But cancer can return many years later.

A doctor may use the word “cured,” but it is more likely they’ll say you’re in remission or there’s no evidence of disease.

Administrative spending is particularly problematic in United States hospitals, where it makes up about 25% of total hospital spending and accounts for hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending annually, The Commonwealth Fund The percentage of total hospital spending devoted to administration is highest in for-profit hospitals, followed by nonprofit hospitals, teaching hospitals, and finally public hospitals. Outdated reimbursement and reporting methods are a big part of the administrative cost, says Salvo-Wendt. “Reimbursing in bundled payments instead of itemizing each service or component would produce instant savings of administrative costs.”

Some cancers are easier to treat than others, so survival rates vary significantly. Another key factor is the stage at diagnosis. “Stage” describes the tumor size and how far it may have spread. Other factors that affect your outlook are:

the tumor grade, which describes how abnormal cancer cells are and how quickly they’re likely to spread
lymph node involvement (whether the cancer has spread to regional lymph nodes)
your age and overall health
your response to treatment

What’s a relative survival rate?

A relative survival rate compares people with a specific cancer with people in the general population. It’s the proportion of survivors of a particular cancer compared with survivors without that cancer, whether or not the cancer has recurred.

Survival statistics are based on people with cancer that was diagnosed more than 5 years ago. They may not reflect the effectiveness of the latest diagnosis methods and treatments.

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Early detection is common in thyroid cancer. At diagnosis, about 65% of cases are localized cancers and 29% are regional cancers. “Localized” means that the cancer is limited to a small area, while “regional” means that the cancer has spread to nearby areas. “Distant” means that the cancer has spread to organs or lymph nodes that are far from the original tumor.

See also Brown Period

Stage at diagnosis	5-year relative survival rate
Localized	99%
Regional	98%
Distant	53%
All stages combined	98%

Survival rates vary, depending on the specific type of thyroid cancer. Well-differentiated tumors, including papillary thyroid cancer and follicular thyroid cancer, are the most common. “Well-differentiated” means that the cancer cells look more like normal cells. When caught early, well-differentiated cancers can usually be cured, according to the NCI .

Poorly differentiated and undifferentiated tumors are made up of cancer cells that look unlike or very unlike normal cells. Poorly differentiated or undifferentiated thyroid cancers are known as anaplastic thyroid cancers, which aren’t common but are much more aggressive.

With a tumor between 1 and 4 centimeters , the main treatment is usually surgery to remove all or part of the thyroid. Other treatments depend on the cancer type and stage.

Most prostate cancers are slow growing. About 70% are diagnosed as localized cancers, and 13% are diagnosed as regional cancers. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing may have a lot to do with early detection.

The relative survival rates shown in the table below are based on SEER population statistics for the United States between 2012 and 2018 .

Stage at diagnosis	5-year relative survival rate
Localized	>99%
Regional	>99%
Distant	32%
All stages combined	97%

Prostate cancer can run in families and certain gene variants may increase your risk.

Low grade prostate cancer may not require treatment. Careful monitoring, or active surveillance, may be appropriate. Treatment for early stage disease may include surgery, radiation therapy, or radioactive seed implants (brachytherapy).

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in people assigned male at birth, ages 15 to 45 years. When caught early, it’s one of the most curable.

Relative survival rates in the table below are based on SEER population statistics for the United States from 2012 to 2017 .

Stage at diagnosis	5-year relative survival rate
Localized	99%
Regional	96%
Distant	73%
All stages combined	95%

Treatment for early stage testicular cancer may include active surveillance. It may also involve surgical removal of one or both testicles (orchiectomy) or radiation therapy.

With early treatment, almost all cases of basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers are curable. Melanoma is also highly curable in the earliest stages. But it’s more likely to spread. About 78% melanoma diagnoses are localized cancers.