Cancer - Australian cancer incidence statistics update, February 2008

Incidence data for 1982 to 2004 now available online

The 'Data Online' section for cancer has been updated to include 2004 incidence data for the following:

Australian Cancer Incidence and Mortality (ACIM) books: incidence numbers and rates from 1982 to 2004, and mortality numbers and rates from 1968 to 2005
Cancer incidence data cubes: numbers and rates from 1982 to 2004

In addition there are the following Excel tables:

The update in incidence data has been compiled by the AIHW and the Australasian Association of Cancer Registries (AACR). Thanks are extended to all state and territory cancer registries for their assistance in providing and checking the data and tabular output.

Key points

Age-standardised incidence

Except for prostate cancer, there was very little change in the age-standardised incidence rate for the major cancers for males and females between 2003 and 2004. The rate for all cancers for females was 395 new cases per 100,000 females in 2004, virtually unchanged from 390 per 100,000 in 2003. The rate for all cancers for males increased from 557 to 573 per 100,000. This increase was mainly due to a rise in prostate cancer incidence from 147 new cases per 100,000 males in 2003 to 163 per 100,000 males in 2004. In 2003-04 there was a 10.5% increase in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests for screening for prostate cancer and a 19.8% increase in hospital inpatient separations with a principal diagnosis of prostate cancer (AIHW & AACR 2007. Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2006).
For females, the decline in breast cancer incidence in 2003 did not continue in 2004. The age-standardised breast cancer incidence rate declined significantly from 117.2 per 100,000 females in 2001 and 2002 to 112.2 per 100,000 in 2003. However, this stabilised to 112.8 per 100,000 in 2004.
The male age-standardised incidence rate in 2004 of 573 per 100,000 males was 45% higher than the female rate of 395 per 100,000 females

New cases

Excluding non-melanocytic skin cancer (NMSC), 98,336 new cases of cancer (54,870 males and 43,466 females) were diagnosed in Australia in 2004. This was a 4.7% increase on cases diagnosed in 2003 and 25.2% higher than in 1994. The increase in 2004 was due to two factors: increasing diagnosis of prostate cancer and ageing of the population.
Of the 4,418 additional cases diagnosed in 2004, prostate cancer accounted for 47.3%, colorectal cancer for 9.2%, breast cancer for 7.1% and melanoma for 4.4%.

State and territory annual averages for 2000-2004

State and territory statistics are provided as 5-year annual averages to reduce statistical variation from fluctuations in numbers from year to year. Differences in age-standardised rates between the states and territories may be explained by variations in underlying cancer risk, the availability and utilisation of diagnostic procedures, reporting and coding inconsistencies, and normal incidence rate fluctuations. The numbers and rates published by the AIHW may differ slightly from those published by state and territory cancer registries. After collating the state and territory files into a national dataset, the AIHW identifies interstate duplicate records and excludes these from national statistics. The source data files used by the AIHW may also be later versions, with additional records, than those used in preparation of the state and territory publications.
For all cancers, excluding NMSC, the highest age-standardised incidence rates occurred in Queensland (494 cases per 100,000 persons), followed by Tasmania (467), New South Wales (465), Western Australia (463), South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory (457), Victoria (445) and the Northern Territory (416).
Differences in age-standardised melanoma incidence explain much of the variation. Queensland had melanoma incidence of 65 per 100,000 persons compared with 36 for Victoria and 31 for the Northern Territory (the latter because of low rates in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population).
On the other hand, the Northern Territory had relatively high rates of smoking-related and gynaecological cancers, while the ACT, which has the highest socioeconomic status population of the jurisdictions, had the highest rate of breast cancer in females. The ACT also had the highest rate of diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Further information

Unit Head: Ms Chris Sturrock
Phone: +61 2 6244 1140

Contact Officer: Dr Mark Short
Phone: +61 2 6244 1063

Email: