Cancer data commentaries
The Cancer data commentaries series has been created within Cancer data in Australia to communicate key findings within the data, to help increase cancer awareness and to improve the understanding of cancer trends in Australia.
The Cancer data commentaries released in 2023 are listed below (noting commentary 8b is an update of a 2022 release).
Cancer data commentaries released in 2023
| Commentary no. | Title and content overview | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| C10 | Expanded blood cancer reporting and the blood cancer reporting framework This commentary introduces the expanded blood cancer reporting now available within CdiA and also discusses why the data is experimental. | 31/8/2023 |
| C8b | Interim guidelines – choosing which mortality data source to use (2023 update) This commentary updates the recommended mortality data source (either the Australian Cancer Database or the National Mortality Database) for the various cancers reported on within this report. The recommendations are not prescriptive and are provided for those who wish assistance. Some further general advice to help address possible cancer mortality reporting issues is also discussed. | 31/8/2023 (update) 04/10/2022 |
Cancer data commentaries released prior to 2023 contain data that was up-to-date at the time but may change as CdiA is updated.
The Cancer data commentaries released prior to 2023 are listed below.
The Cancer data commentaries released prior to 2023
| Commentary no. | Title and content overview | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| C9 | Prostate cancer – projection method changes, updated long-term prostate cancer incidence projections This commentary provides greater detail of the prostate cancer incidence projection method change that occurred in 2023. The commentary notes limitations and difficulties projecting incidence for this cancer. The ageing population’s impact on prostate cancer incidence and mortality is discussed within the commentary. | 04/10/2022 |
| C8 | Cancer mortality data investigations (preliminary investigations) Using National Mortality Database (NMD) and Australian Cancer Database mortality data comparisons, this commentary explores potential limitations in using the NMD to report on mortality for some cancers. It discusses the complexity of establishing the underlying cause of death and the corresponding issues these may have on mortality reporting for some cancers. | 01/07/2022 |
| C7 | A commentary introducing the new reporting category 'all sarcomas combined' and outlining changes | 08/06/2021 |
| C6 | A commentary outlining how to use age-adjusted survival rates and data within the cancer survival by age data visualisation. | 08/06/2021 |
| C5 | Improving the understanding of ovarian cancer statistics A commentary discussing issues that are impacting on the reliable interpretation of ovarian cancer rate changes over time. | 08/06/2021 |
| C4 | A different view of how brain cancer rates are changing over time A commentary aiming to provide a clearer picture of how brain cancer rates may be changing over time | 08/06/2021 |
| C3 | How are pancreatic cancer rates changing? A commentary about how pancreatic cancer incidence, mortality, risk and survival rates have been changing over the last 20 years. | 13/11/2020 |
| C2 | Risk of melanoma of the skin by age and over time An overview of the changing risk of being diagnosed with, or dying from, melanoma of the skin; risk is considered by different ages. | 30/10/2020 |
| C1 | Changes to the cancer risk data and guidance using the risk methods An overview of the expanded range of cancer risk data, including assistance in understanding risk adjusted for competing mortality. | 30/10/2020 |
The data presented in the Cancer data commentaries are available in the supplementary tables.