Summary

This report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), Cancer Australia and the Australasian Association of Cancer Registries (AACR) aims at providing a comprehensive update on the changes in cancer survival in Australia since the first national report was published in 2001. For the first time, it presents national prevalence statistics other than estimates previously produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for private households from National Health Surveys.

The report includes Australian relative survival and prevalence statistics for 1.6 million invasive cancer cases diagnosed between 1982 and 2004 and followed to the end of 2006. Relative survival is examined by cancer site, sex, age, period of diagnosis, survival time, geographic region and socioeconomic status. In addition, the report provides prevalence calculations by cancer site, sex, age, duration since diagnosis, region and socioeconomic status.