General Cancer Statistics - 10/02/2008
South Australian Statistics
- 23 South Australians are diagnosed with cancer each day
- 8,456 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in SA in 2005 (266 more cases than in 2004)
- 3,302 deaths from cancer were recorded in SA in 2005 (53 more deaths than in 2004)
- The most common cancers in males (in 2005) were prostate, bowel and lung cancer
- The most common cancers in females (in 2005) were breast, bowel and melanoma
- The most common causes of cancer deaths in males (in 2005) were lung cancer followed by prostate cancer, then bowel cancer.
- The most common causes of cancer deaths in females (2005) were breast cancer followed by lung cancer, then bowel cancer
- The age adjusted mortality rates have declined during the past 10 years.
Source: Cancer in South Australia 2005 – with incidence projections to 2008 – published by the Australian Cancer Registry Nov 2007. Cancer in South Australia 2004 – with incidence projections to 2007 – published by the Australian Cancer Registry Nov 2007.
Australian Statistics
- 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will experience cancer before the age of 85 (1 in 3 men and 1 in 4 women by the age of 75)
- 93,194 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in Australia in 2003
- An estimated 106,000 were expected to be diagnosed in 2006 (60,600 males and 45,400 females) – a 34 per cent increase in 10 years
- 37,907 deaths from cancer were recorded in Australia in 2003. It’s the leading cause of death in Australian
- An estimated 39,200 died from cancer in 2006 (21,900 males and 17,300 females)
- The cancer age adjusted mortality rate in Australia has decreased by 17 per cent over 10 years, and is at its lowest level since the 1970s.
The
most common cancers in Australia in 2003 (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) were:
- prostate cancer (13,526 new cases) which overtook
- colorectal cancer (12,536 cases)
- breast cancer (11,889)
- melanoma (9,524) and
- lung cancer (8,249)
The
most common cancers in males were:
- prostate (13,526 new cases)
- colorectal (6,857)
- melanoma (5,535)
- lung (5,281)
- lymphoma (2,297)
The
most common cancers in females were:
- breast (11,788 new cases)
- colorectal (5,679)
- melanoma (3,989)
- lung cancer (2,968)
- lymphoma (1,832)
The most common cause of cancer death in males was:
- lung cancer (4,506 deaths)
- prostate (2,837)
- colorectal (2,382)
- cancers of unknown primary site (1,567) and
- pancreatic (942)
The most common cause of cancer death in females was:
- breast cancer (2,710 deaths)
- lung (2,482)
- colorectal (1,990)
- cancers of unknown primary site (1,548)
- pancreatic (940)
- The survival rate for many common cancers has increased by more than 30 per cent in the past two decades
- Cancer costs $2.7 billion in direct health system costs
- In 2004/05 10 per cent of all hospital admissions were cancer-related and increased by 4.5 per cent a year from 2000/01 to 2004/05
Sources: AIHW, Cancer in Australia: an overview 2006, 2007, ABS, Cancer mortality 2004, AIHW, Cancer incidence projections 2001-2011, 2005
- Preventable cancers associated with excessive sun exposure (melanoma), higher smoking rates (lung, head and neck, and lip cancers) and low Pap smear screening (cervical cancer) were among the main cancers with significantly higher incidence rates in regional and remote areas in 2001-2003 compared with major Australian cities
- The main cancers with significantly lower incidence rates in regional and remote areas were stomach cancer, liver cancer, female breast cancer and lymphoma.
- In 2003, 38.3 per cent of all male cancer deaths and 35.1 per cent of female cancer deaths in Australia were of residents of regional and remote areas
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