Overview

Cancer is a major cause of illness in Australia and has a substantial social and economic impact on individuals, families and the community. Findings from the recent Australian Burden of Disease Study showed that cancer as a disease group was the leading cause of burden in Australia in 2011, accounting for 19% of the total disease burden.

More reports and statistics on cancer can be found under Cancer screening.

Latest findings

It has been estimated that 151,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2021 Breast cancer is estimated to be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in 2019, followed by prostate cancer 5-year relative survival was 70% for all cancers combined in 2013–2017 It has been estimated that, in 2021, breast cancer will be the most commonly diagnosed cancer In 2019, an estimated 396 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed each day in Australia, on average It has been estimated that, in 2021, lung cancer will be the leading cause of cancer-related death In 2011, over 70% of breast cancer cases and over 80% of prostate cancer cases were diagnosed at Stage I or II In 2019, an estimated 136 people will die from cancer each day in Australia, on average At the end of 2016, 457,000 people were alive who had been diagnosed with cancer in the previous 5 years It has been estimated that 2,300 sarcoma cases will be diagnosed in 2021 It has been estimated that 18,000 blood cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2021 It has been estimated that 49,000 people will die from cancer in 2021

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Highlights

144,700new cancer cases are estimated to be diagnosed in 2019—1 new diagnosis every 4 minutes
1 in 4men and 1 in 6 women will die from cancer by the age of 85
49,900people are estimated to die from cancer in 2019—137 deaths every day
Survival rates were better for cancers diagnosed at an earlier stage
3 in every 10deaths in Australia in 2016 were due to cancer
1 in 2people will be diagnosed by the age of 85
1 in 91 in 9 hospitalisations in 2016–17 were related to cancer
Rare and less common cancers accounted for 1 in 3 new cancer cases diagnosed and 1 in 2 cancer deaths in 2015.