Cancer survival on the up
September 20, 2012
MORE Australians are surviving
cancer now than they did thirty
years ago, according to a new
report by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, titled Cancer survival
and prevalence in Australia: period
estimates from 1982 to 2010, found
that 5-year survival from all cancers
increased from 47% to 66% in the
period 1982-1987 to 2006-2010.
Despite this overall cancer survival
rate, researchers found that variations
still exist between types of cancer.
The cancers with the largest
survival gains between 1982-1987
and 2006-2010 were kidney cancer,
non-Hodgkin lymphoma and
prostate cancer, however
researchers noted that four cancers
did not show any significant
changes in survival over this time:
cancer of the lip, cancer of the
larynx, cancer of the brain and
chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
“Between 2006 and 2010, the
cancers with the highest survival
were testicular cancer, lip cancer,
prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, and
melanoma of the skin,” said AIHW
spokesperson Anne Bech.
“All of these cancers had a 5-year
survival of 90% or more.
“On the other hand, pancreatic
cancer and mesothelioma had the
lowest survival- 5-year survival for
these cancers was less than 10%”.
The report also found that
women generally had slightly
higher survival rates than men,
with 5-year survival for all cancers
equalling 67% for females compared
with 65% for males; whilst younger
Australians had a higher survival
rate than older people.
Survival was slightly lower for
people living in remote and
regional areas compared to those in
major cities, and it was also lower
for those with greater
socioeconomic disadvantage.
According to the data, for those
with cancer who had survived 5
years past their diagnosis, survival
prospects were very positive-more
than 90% for the next five years
(for all cancers combined).
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