• 53 South Australian women died of the disease in 2005 (compared with 63 in 2004)
  
  
• Risk was one in 135 (in 2005)

• About 1,300 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year.
  
  
• About 850 Australian women die from ovarian cancer each year.
  
  
• One in 104 Australian women will develop ovarian cancer by the age of 75.
  
  
• Around 5-10 per cent that are thought to have a genetic connection
  
  
• Around 75 per cent of women with ovarian cancer already have advanced cancer by the time they’re diagnosed.
  
  
• The proportion of women with ovarian cancer surviving five years after diagnosis is 38 per cent (in SA). The difficulty in detection is a major factor in the high mortality. Ovarian cancer has the least favourable outcomes of any of the female specific cancers.
  
  
• risk factors for ovarian cancer include;
  
  
  • older age
    
  • no or few pregnancies
    
  • long duration between starting menstruation and menopause
    
  • family history of ovarian, breast, colon or uterine cancer
    
  • personal history of colon or uterine cancer

• 169 South Australian women were diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2005
   
• 27 South Australian women died of the cancer in 2005

• Cancer of the uterus is the most common gynaecological cancer.
  
  
• 1,530 Australian women are diagnosed with uterine cancer each year. 
   
• About 295 Australian women will die from uterine cancer each year 
   
• It is more common in women aged over 50 than in younger women.
   
• Most cancers of the uterus are cancers of the lining of the uterus (the endometrium), but the cancer can also develop in the muscle layers of the uterus. 
   
• 80 per cent of women diagnosed with uterine cancer survive five years or longer after diagnosis. 
   
• risk factors for ovarian cancer include;
  
  
  • older age
  • no or few pregnancies
  • history of irregular menstrual periods
  • being overweight
  • endometrial hyperplasia (a condition which is associated with heavy menstruation, bleeding between periods and post menopausal bleeding

The pap test can detect abnormal cells before they became cancerous, making cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers through regular screening.

South Australian Statistics 

• 59 South Australians were diagnosed with cervical cancer each year in 2005 (compared with 46 in 2004)
  
  
• 23 SA women died of the cancer in 2005 (10 in 2004)
  
  
• The incidence and mortality rates for cervix cancer have fallen by 50 per cent over the period 1977-2005. Although the decline in incidence began in the late 1980s it has continued over the years of operation of cervical screening (1994-2005).
  

• Cancer of the cervix is the 14th most common cancer in women.
  
  
• One in 150 women will develop cervical cancer by the age of 75 (1 in 200 in SA)
  
  
• About 735 Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year.
  
  
• Approximately 270 women die of cervical cancer in Australia each year.
  
  
• Rates of cervix cancer are higher among women living in low socio-economic areas.
  
  
• In the last 20 years mortality rates have dropped by about a third due to effective pap smear screening programs.
  
  
• Women should have a pap smear every two years
  
  
• Women from the age of 12-26 years are eligible for free vaccination against common strains of HPV (Human Papalloma Virus) which cause cervix cancer. They should continue to have regular pap smears if they have ever been sexually active.
  
  
• The five year survival rate for women diagnosed with cervix cancer is 71 per cent.
  
  
• Risk factors for cervix cancer include;
  
  
  • not having regular pap smears
  • early commencement of sexual activity
  • multiple sexual partners
  • tobacco smoking