Incidence of selected cancers
Definition: The number of new cases of breast cancer in females; bowel cancer; melanoma of the skin; lung cancer; and cervical cancer. Presented as age-standardised number per 100,000 population (per 100,000 females for breast and cervical cancers).
Source: Australian Cancer Database 2014; Table S1.4.2.
- Since 1982, the incidence of breast cancer for females has increased—from 81 new cases per 100,000 females to 125 cases in 2014. In 2014 the incidence rate was highest for women aged 70–74 (412 new cases per 100,000 females). An increase in incidence may have been the result of population based screening and improvements in technologies and techniques used to identify and diagnose cancer.
- In 2014, the incidence of colorectal (bowel) cancer was higher for males than females (67 and 49 new cases per 100,000 people respectively). The overall rate for males and females combined was 57 new cases per 100,000 people in 2014, which is similar to the incidence rate in 1982 (58 new cases per 100,000 people). However, after slowly increasing to a high of 66 new cases per 100,000 people in 2001, the rate has been slowly decreasing in recent years.
- The incidence of melanoma of the skin rose from 27 new cases per 100,000 people in 1982 to a high of 52 new cases per 100,000 people in 2005. Since then, the rate has remained between 49 and 51, and was 51 new cases per 100,000 in 2014. The incidence rate for males in 2014 was 62 new cases per 100,000 males. The incidence rate for females for the same time period was noticeably lower at 41 new cases per 100,000.
- In 2014, the incidence of lung cancer was 43 new cases per 100,000 people, a decrease of 4.1 new cases per 100,000 people since 1982; however, the rate has remained steady between 42 and 45 since 1998. Incidence was higher for males compared with females, and has decreased substantially for males since 1982 (from 85 to 53 new cases per 100,000), but increased for females (from 18 to 34 new cases per 100,000).
- The incidence of cervical cancer decreased from 14 new cases per 100,000 females in 1982 to 7.5 in 2001. Since then, the rate has remained between 6.8 and 7.4, and was 7.4 new cases per 100,000 females in 2014. In 2014, the incidence of cervical cancer was greatest for women aged 40–44 (15 new cases per 100,000 females).
For more information, see Chapter 3.4 'Cancer'.