Australia's first national report on breast cancer incidence and
mortality has been released, providing a picture of breast cancer
in Australia, including trends by age, and showing the variations
in socioeconomic status, rural vs urban comparisons, and
ethnicity.
Breast Cancer in Australian Women, 1921-1994, a report
by the NHMRC National Breast Cancer Centre, the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare and the state and territory cancer
registries, shows that despite increasing community concern,
incidence of breast cancer is not becoming more common in younger
women.
'Age is still the greatest determinant of risk, with the rate of
increase in new cases much higher in women aged 50 and over,' said
Dr Anne Kricker of the National Breast Cancer Centre.
Dr Kricker also noted that although incidence of breast cancer
rose by 1.5% a year from 1982 to 1992, mortality was relatively
stable at all ages and remained consistently higher in older than
younger women.
Other findings of the report include:
- Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer (apart from
melanocytic skin cancer) in Australian women.
- 1 in 14 women will develop breast cancer before they reach 75
years of age.
- Breast cancer is the most common cause of death from cancer in
women.
- 76-77% of women with breast cancer (based on data from two
Australian States) survived more than 5 years after diagnosis. The
percentage of women surviving was much greater for those women
diagnosed with early stages than for women with cancers that have
spread beyond the breast.
The report also showed that women born in the UK and Ireland
were at higher risk of death from breast cancer, and women born in
eastern Europe, southern Europe and Asia were at lower risk, than
women born in Australia.
The report's authors, Dr Anne Kricker, NHMRC National Breast
Cancer Centre, and Mr Paul Jelfs, Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare, are available for comment and can be contacted through
their respective organisations.
State and Territory cancer registries have provided the
information on which the report is based, and can also be contacted
for comment.
13 March 1997
Further information: Paul
Jelfs, AIHW, ph. 02 6244 1140.
For copies of the report or to arrange interviews please
contact: Liz McLaughlin, for the NHMRC National Breast
Cancer Centre, ph. 02 9666 6466 or 04 1152 8844 (mobile).
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications Catalogue
for details.