Stage 4 nodular sclerosis hodgkins lymphoma survival rate

The World Health Organization (WHO) divides Hodgkin lymphoma into two main subtypes. They are:

• Classical Hodgkin lymphoma
• Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is characterized by the presence of both Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells. Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma is characterized by the presence of lymphocyte-predominant cells, sometimes termed “popcorn cells,” which are a variant of Reed-Sternberg cells.

It is important to know your subtype since it plays a large part in determining the type of treatment you will receive.

Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

About 95 percent of people with Hodgkin lymphoma have classical Hodgkin lymphoma. This subtype is further divided into four distinct subtypes shown in the table below.

Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Subtypes

Nodular Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma

Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) affects about 5 percent of Hodgkin lymphoma patients. The following are some characteristics of NLPHL:

• Most common in 30 to 50 year-old age group
• More common in males
• Slow growing and can relapse many years later
• Highly curable
• Small risk of transformation to aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (7 percent of cases)

Related Links​

• Download or order The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's free booklet, Hodgkin Lymphoma.  

Survival depends on many factors. No one can tell you exactly how long you will live.

Below are general statistics based on large groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case. 

Your doctor can give you more information about your own outlook (prognosis). You can also talk about this with the Cancer Research UK nurses on freephone 0808 800 4040, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Survival by stage

There are no UK-wide statistics available for Hodgkin lymphoma survival by stage.

Survival statistics are available for each stage of Hodgkin lymphoma in England. These figures are for people diagnosed between 2013 and 2017. These statistics are non-age-standardised which means they don't take into account the age of the people with Hodgkin lymphoma. 

Stage 1

90 out of 100 people (90%) will survive their Hodgkin lymphoma for 5 years or more after diagnosis. 

Stage 2

Around 90 out of 100 people (around 90%) will survive their Hodgkin lymphoma for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 3

Around 80 out of 100 people (around 80%) will survive their Hodgkin lymphoma for 5 years or more after diagnosis.

Stage 4

More than 70 out of 100 people (more than 70%) will survive their Hodgkin lymphoma for 5 years or more after being diagnosed.

Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics

These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.

These statistics don’t take into account the age of the people with Hodgkin lymphoma. Statistics that do take into account the age (age-standardised statistics) are not available.

Without age standardisation, the survival differences between the 4 stage groups can be influenced by the age of the people in each stage group, in addition to their disease progression or treatment.  

We should not use these non age-standardised figures to compare survival with other groups, such as different cancer types, stages, or populations from other countries.

Survival for all stages

Generally, for people with Hodgkin lymphoma in England:

• around 90 out of 100 (around 90%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis
• more than 80 out of 100 (more than 80%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis
• 75 out of 100 people (75%) survive their cancer for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed

Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics

These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2013 and 2017. 

These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.

What affects survival

Your outcome depends on the stage of the lymphoma at diagnosis. This means where the lymphoma is in your body and whether it has spread. Your stage also depends on whether you had certain symptoms when you were diagnosed, such as weight loss, night sweats, or high temperatures.

Your sex and age also affect outlook. Hodgkin lymphoma survival is higher in women than men. And survival is highest for people diagnosed aged under 40 years old.

About these statistics

The terms 1 year survival and 5 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1 or 5 years.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and researchers collect information. They watch what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.

5 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 years after diagnosis.

More statistics

Read more about understanding cancer statistics and incidence, mortality and survival statistics.

For more in depth information about survival and other statistics for Hodgkin lymphoma, go to our Cancer Statistics section.