Cancer data

 What cancer data are available? 

• Australian Cancer Incidence and Mortality (ACIM) books: Excel workbooks which provide summary statistics and raw data for around 40 major cancers for incidence from 1982 to 2008 and mortality from 1968 to 2007.
• AIHW cancer and screening publications: comprehensive reports on a range of cancer topics, including the flagship publication, Cancer in Australia 2010: an overview, as well as more detailed reports on specific cancers and statistics.

Sources and scope of cancer data 

The major source of cancer incidence data is the Australian Cancer Database which contains records of all primary, malignant cancers (except basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin) diagnosed in Australia between 1982 and 2008.

The major source of cancer mortality data is the National Mortality Database which contains, amongst other information, records on all deaths where cancer was the underlying cause of death in Australia between 1968 and 2007.

Cautionary note about small numbers 

The number of cases and/or deaths from a specific type of cancer for a given sex, age-group and year can be very small. Due to a large degree of year-to-year statistical fluctuation in these small numbers, great care should be taken when assessing apparent differences involving small numbers and measures based on small numbers.

Data cube and Excel pivot table

These products differ from the ACIM books in that they contain data about all cancers rather than just the major ones but do not contain any mortality data or statistics such as age-standardised rates or risk of diagnosis/death. The data cube and Excel pivot table contain the same underlying data as each other but have different interfaces and interactive capabilities—the two formats are provided to suit different tastes and needs.

• Cancer incidence data cube, 1982 to 2008
• Excel pivot table (2.8MB XLSX)

Other sources of data about cancer 

• General Record of Incidence of Mortality (GRIM) books: Excel workbooks containing mortality data on selected causes of death by age and sex for each year.
• National hospital morbidity data cubes: interactive data cubes containing information on the principal diagnoses, procedures and diagnosis related groups of patients admitted to Australian hospitals. The source of these data is the National Hospital Morbidity Database.
• External resources with information about cancer can be found in cancer and screening links.

Requesting further data 

The AIHW is able to make available a broad range of cancer statistics subject to a scientific and ethical review process. For information on requesting these data, see requesting additional cancer and screening data.