Appendix B: Classifications
Age
The data in this report are stratified by the age of the person at the time of the specified test or at the time an invitation was sent (for cervical screening data), at the time of diagnosis (for cancer incidence data), or at the time of death (for cancer mortality data).
For NCSR data, the age group 25–74 actually refers to the age group 24.75–74. The age 24 years and 9 months is used instead of 25 years, as people are invited to screen 3 months prior to their 25th birthday, and so are considered to be eligible to screen from that time. The age group 24.75–74 is used to ensure these invitees and participants are included in the data.
State and territory
The state or territory reported is the one where the participant or invitee resides (for cervical screening data), where the diagnosis was made (for cancer incidence data), or the place of usual residence (for cancer mortality data).
For cervical screening data, direct comparisons between the states and territories of Australia are not advised, due to the substantial differences that exist between the jurisdictions, including population, area, geographical structure, policies, and other factors.
Remoteness area
Remoteness areas divide Australia into broad geographical regions that share common characteristics of remoteness for statistical purposes. The remoteness structure divides each state and territory into several regions on the basis of their relative access to services. There are 6 classes of remoteness area: Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote, Very remote, and Migratory. The category Major cities includes Australia’s capital cities, except for Hobart and Darwin, which are classified as Inner regional. Remoteness areas are based on the Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia, produced by the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre at the University of Adelaide.
For participation calculations, participants were allocated to a remoteness area using their SA2 at the time of their screen (or postcode where SA2 was not available). Caution is required when examining differences across remoteness areas for the following reasons: firstly, postcodes used to allocate participants may not represent their location of usual residence; secondly, as these are based on the 2021 Census, the accuracy of remoteness area classifications diminishes as the years get further away from 2021 due to subsequent changes in demographics; thirdly, some postcodes (and hence individuals) are unable to be allocated to a remoteness area.
Socioeconomic area
The Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (one of four Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas developed by the ABS) is based on factors such as average household income, education levels and unemployment rates. It is not a person-based measure but an area-based measure of socioeconomic disadvantage in which small areas of Australia are classified on a continuum from disadvantaged to affluent. This information is used as a proxy for the socioeconomic disadvantage of participants living in those areas and may not be correct for each person in that area.
In this report, the first socioeconomic area (quintile 1) corresponds to geographical areas containing the 20% of the population with the greatest socioeconomic disadvantage according to the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (that is, the lowest socioeconomic area), and the fifth area (quintile 5) corresponds to the 20% of the population with the least socioeconomic disadvantage (that is, the highest socioeconomic area).
For participation, participants were allocated to a socioeconomic area using their SA2 at the time of their screen (or postcode where SA2 was not available). Caution is required when examining differences across socioeconomic areas for the following reasons: firstly, postcodes used to allocate participants may not represent their location of residence; secondly, as these are based on the 2021 Census, the accuracy of socioeconomic area classifications diminishes as the years get further away from 2021 due to subsequent changes in demographics; thirdly, many postcodes (and hence individuals) are unable to be allocated to a socioeconomic area.
Classification of cervical cancer by histology
Histology codes to classify cervical cancer into histological groups are listed in Table Appendix B1.
I.D. | Cancer group/name | Histology code/s |
|---|---|---|
n.a. | Cervical cancer | n.a. |
C1.01 | Carcinomas | 8010, 8012, 8013, 8015, 8020–8022, 8030, 8033, 8041, 8045, 8050–8052, 8070–8076, 8082–8086, 8098, 8140, 8141, 8143, 8144, 8200, 8240, 8244, 8246, 8249, 8255, 8260, 8262, 8263, 8310, 8313, 8323, 8380, 8384, 8430, 8441, 8460, 8461, 8474, 8480, 8481, 8482, 8483, 8484, 8490, 8560, 8570, 8574, 8950, 8951, 8980, 9110 |
C1.01.01 | Squamous cell carcinomas | 8051, 8052, 8070–8076, 8082–8086 |
C1.01.01.01 | Verrucous carcinoma, NOS | 8051 |
C1.01.01.02 | Papillary squamous cell carcinoma | 8052 |
C1.01.01.03 | Squamous cell carcinoma, NOS | 8070 |
C1.01.01.04 | Squamous cell carcinoma, keratinising, NOS | 8071 |
C1.01.01.05 | Squamous cell carcinoma, large cell, nonkeratinising, NOS | 8072 |
C1.01.01.06 | Squamous cell carcinoma, small cell, nonkeratinising | 8073 |
C1.01.01.07 | Squamous cell carcinoma, spindle cell | 8074 |
C1.01.01.08 | Squamous cell carcinoma, adenoid | 8075 |
C1.01.01.09 | Squamous cell carcinoma, microinvasive | 8076 |
C1.01.01.10 | Lymphoepithelial carcinoma | 8082 |
C1.01.01.11 | Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma | 8083 |
C1.01.01.12 | Squamous cell carcinoma, clear cell type | 8084 |
C1.01.01.13 | Squamous cell carcinoma, HPV-associated | 8085 |
C1.01.01.14 | Squamous cell carcinoma, HPV-independent | 8086 |
C1.01.02 | Adenocarcinomas | 8140, 8141, 8143, 8144, 8200, 8255, 8260, 8262, 8263, 8310, 8313, 8323, 8380, 8384, 8441, 8460, 8461, 8474, 8480, 8481, 8482, 8483, 8484, 8490, 8570, 8574, 9110 |
C1.01.02.01 | Adenocarcinoma, NOS | 8140 |
C1.01.02.02 | Scirrhous adenocarcinoma [obs] | 8141 |
C1.01.02.03 | Superficial spreading adenocarcinoma | 8143 |
C1.01.02.04 | Adenocarcinoma, intestinal type | 8144 |
C1.01.02.05 | Adenoid cystic carcinoma | 8200 |
C1.01.02.06 | Papillary adenocarcinoma, NOS | 8260 |
C1.01.02.07 | Villous adenocarcinoma | 8262 |
C1.01.02.08 | Adenocarcinoma in tubulovillous adenoma | 8263 |
C1.01.02.09 | Clear cell adenocarcinofibroma | 8313 |
C1.01.02.10 | Mixed cell adenocarcinoma | 8255, 8323 |
C1.01.02.11 | Endometrioid adenocarcinoma, NOS | 8380 |
C1.01.02.12 | Adenocarcinoma, endocervical type, NOS | 8384 |
C1.01.02.13 | Serous carcinoma, NOS | 8441 |
C1.01.02.14 | Low grade serous carcinoma | 8460 |
C1.01.02.15 | High grade serous carcinoma | 8461 |
C1.01.02.16 | Seromucinous carcinoma | 8474 |
C1.01.02.17 | Mucinous adenocarcinoma, NOS | 8480 |
C1.01.02.18 | Mucin-producing adenocarcinoma | 8481 |
C1.01.02.19 | Signet ring cell carcinoma | 8490 |
C1.01.02.20 | Adenocarcinoma, HPV-associated | 8483 |
C1.01.02.21 | Adenocarcinoma, HPV-independent | 8310, 8482, 8484, 9110 |
C1.01.02.21.01 | Adenocarcinoma, HPV-independent, NOS | 8484 |
C1.01.02.21.02 | Adenocarcinoma, HPV-independent, clear cell type | 8310 |
C1.01.02.21.03 | Adenocarcinoma, HPV-independent, gastric type | 8482 |
C1.01.02.21.04 | Adenocarcinoma, HPV-independent, mesonephric type | 9110 |
C1.01.02.22 | Adenocarcinoma with squamous metaplasia | 8570 |
C1.01.02.23 | Adenocarcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation | 8574 |
C1.01.03 | Adenosquamous carcinoma | 8560 |
C1.01.04 | Carcinosarcoma | 8950, 8951, 8980 |
C1.01.04.01 | Carcinosarcoma, NOS | 8980 |
C1.01.04.02 | Mullerian mixed tumor | 8950 |
C1.01.04.03 | Mesodermal mixed tumor | 8951 |
C1.01.05 | Neuroendocrine neoplasms | 8013, 8041, 8045, 8240, 8244, 8246, 8249 |
C1.01.05.01 | Neuroendocrine tumours | 8240, 8249 |
C1.01.05.01.01 | Neuroendocrine tumour, grade 1 or NOS | 8240 |
C1.01.05.01.02 | Neuroendocrine tumour, grade 2 | 8249 |
C1.01.05.02 | Neuroendocrine carcinomas | 8013, 8041, 8246 |
C1.01.05.02.01 | Neuroendocrine carcinoma, NOS | 8246 |
C1.01.05.02.02 | Small cell carcinoma, NOS | 8041 |
C1.01.05.02.03 | Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma | 8013 |
C1.01.05.03 | Mixed neuroendocrine and non-neuroendocrine neoplasms | 8045, 8244 |
C1.01.05.03.01 | Combined small cell carcinoma | 8045 |
C1.01.05.03.02 | Mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma | 8244 |
C1.01.06 | Other and unclassifiable carcinomas | 8010, 8012, 8015, 8020–8022, 8030, 8033, 8050, 8098, 8430 |
C1.01.06.01 | Carcinoma, NOS | 8010 |
C1.01.06.02 | Large cell carcinoma, NOS | 8012 |
C1.01.06.03 | Glassy cell carcinoma | 8015 |
C1.01.06.04 | Undifferentiated carcinoma, NOS | 8020 |
C1.01.06.05 | Anaplastic carcinoma, NOS | 8021 |
C1.01.06.06 | Pleomorphic carcinoma | 8022 |
C1.01.06.07 | Giant cell and spindle cell carcinoma | 8030 |
C1.01.06.08 | Pseudosarcomatous carcinoma | 8033 |
C1.01.06.09 | Papillary carcinoma, NOS | 8050 |
C1.01.06.10 | Adenoid basal carcinoma | 8098 |
C1.01.06.11 | Mucoepidermoid carcinoma | 8430 |
C1.02 | Melanomas | 8720, 8730, 8746, 8772 |
C1.02.01 | Malignant melanoma, NOS | 8720 |
C1.02.02 | Amelanotic melanoma | 8730 |
C1.02.03 | Mucosal lentiginous melanoma | 8746 |
C1.02.04 | Spindle cell melanoma, NOS | 8772 |
C1.03 | Sarcomas | 8714, 8800, 8801, 8805, 8890, 8891, 8896, 8900, 8910, 8935, 9133, 9540, 9581 |
C1.03.01 | Vascular sarcomas | 9133 |
C1.03.01.01 | Epithelioid haemangioendothelioma, NOS | 9133 |
C1.03.02 | Smooth muscle sarcomas | 8890, 8891, 8896 |
C1.03.02.01 | Leiomyosarcoma, NOS | 8890 |
C1.03.02.02 | Epithelioid leiomyosarcoma | 8891 |
C1.03.02.03 | Myxoid leiomyosarcoma | 8896 |
C1.03.03 | Skeletal muscle sarcomas | 8900, 8910 |
C1.03.03.01 | Rhabdomyosarcoma, NOS | 8900 |
C1.03.03.02 | Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, NOS | 8910 |
C1.03.04 | Stromal sarcomas | 8935 |
C1.03.04.01 | Stromal sarcomas, NOS | 8935 |
C1.03.05 | Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours | 9540 |
C1.03.05.01 | Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour, NOS | 9540 |
C1.03.06 | Sarcomas of uncertain differentiation | 8714, 8801, 8805, 9581 |
C1.03.06.01 | Alveolar soft part sarcoma | 9581 |
C1.03.06.02 | Perivascular epithelioid tumour, malignant | 8714 |
C1.03.06.03 | Undifferentiated sarcomas | 8801, 8805 |
C1.03.06.03.01 | Undifferentiated sarcoma, NOS | 8805 |
C1.03.06.03.02 | Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma | 8801 |
C1.03.07 | Unclassifiable sarcomas | 8800 |
C1.03.07.01 | Sarcoma, NOS | 8800 |
C1.04 | Other cancers | 8933, 9105 |
C1.04.01 | Adenosarcoma | 8933 |
C1.04.02 | Epithelioid trophoblastic tumour | 9105 |
C1.05 | Unclassifiable cancers | 8000, 8002 |
C1.05.01 | Malignant tumour, NOS | 8000 |
C1.05.02 | Malignant tumour, small cell type | 8002 |
n.a. – not available
Source: Cancer data in Australia (AIHW 2024) Data tables: CDIA 2024: Book 10j – Cancer by histology framework.