The relation of age to 5-year relative survival rates was examined for leading sites of cancer resulting in death among 127,554 patients; data from 1978 to 1982 were studied for four areas of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute. Overall and stage-stratified relative survival rates declined with advancing patient age for cancer of the lung, prostate, pancreas, bladder, oral cavity, uterus, cervix, ovary, and large bowel (women only). In men, this trend was not explained by age differences in stage of diagnosis, whereas, among women, age was associated with more advanced disease for most sites examined. Although overall survival rates were lower in black patients compared with white patients, the age-survival and age-stage trends were similar in the two racial groups.