Cancer incidence

Published

08 Aug, 2022

Australia’s states and territories have legislation mandating the notification of cancer diagnoses and national cancer incidence data are available from these sources for the years 1982 to 2017. Projected estimates of annual cancer diagnoses are also available for the years 2018 to 2021.¹

Data

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Cancer type

Notes

• Data sourced from AIHW Cancer Data in Australia

Column one shows the year and subsequent columns show no. of diagnoses for each cancer type for males, females and persons.
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• Data sourced from AIHW Cancer Data in Australia

Age-standardised cancer incidence by sex, 1982 to 2017
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• Data sourced from AIHW Cancer Data in Australia

Age-specific cancer incidence, by sex, 2017
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Persons / Males / Females

Notes

• Data sourced from AIHW Cancer Data in Australia

Incidence by age group, 1982 to 2017
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Notes

• Please note: information regarding data prior to 2012–2016 is provided under the ‘Trends’ tab.
• Data sourced from AIHW Cancer in Australia 2021.
• Data shown for 'Indigenous' and 'Non-Indigenous' are for NSW, Vic, Qld, WA and the NT only.

Age-standardised incidence by Indigenous status, 2012–2016
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Age-specific incidence rate, by sex and Indigenous status, 2012–2016
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Notes

• Data sourced from AIHW Cancer in Australia 2021.
• Remoteness areas are classified according to the Australian Standard Geography Standard (ASGS) 2011.
• Rates are age-standardised to the 2001 Australian population.

Age-standardised incidence by remoteness area and sex, 2012–2016
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• Data sourced from AIHW Cancer in Australia 2021.
• SES area is classified according to the 2011 SEIFA quintile classifications, see 'About the data' for more detail.
• Rates are age-standardised to the 2001 Australian population.

Age-standardised incidence by socioeconomic status, 2012–2016
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Notes

• Data sourced from International Agency for Research on Cancer GLOBOCAN 2020 database.
• Rates are age-standardised to the WHO world standard population.

Age-standardised incidence comparison - selected countries

About this measure

Cancer incidence data, as presented in this report, refer to the number of new cases of cancer diagnosed each year. They can be presented as absolute numbers or as rates. Rates are often age-standardised to remove the influence of age for comparing different populations, as the likelihood of being diagnosed with most types of cancer increases with age.¹ Age-specific rates are used to compare cancer incidence between different age groups.

Age-standardised and age-specific data are made available each year by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) for individual cancer types and cancer groupings. These tumour types and groupings are classified using ICD-10 coding.¹

Estimated international cancer incidence data are available through theGlobal Cancer Observatory (GCO) project; these data are age-standardised to the age structure of the world population in 2020.² International comparisons are made using this NCCI indicator for 15 selected developed countries across five continents. The selected countries are Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, USA and Uruguay.

About the data

Cancer incidence indicates the number of new cancers diagnosed during a specified time period (usually one year). The major source of cancer incidence data is the Australian Cancer Database (ACD) which contains records of all primary, malignant cancers (except basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin) diagnosed in Australia since 1982.

All Australian states and territories have legislation that makes cancer a notifiable disease. Various designated bodies, i.e., institutions such as hospitals, pathology laboratories and registries of births, deaths and marriages, are required to report cancer cases and deaths to their jurisdictional cancer registries.

Each registry supplies incidence data annually to the AIHW under an agreement between the registries and the AIHW. These data are compiled into the ACD, the only repository of national cancer incidence data.

The 2017 ACD contains estimates of incidence for the Northern Territory in 2017, death-certificate-only cases for New South Wales in 2017, and estimates for late registrations for Australia in 2017 and the Northern Territory in 2016.

The ‘All ages combined’ group includes counts of people with unknown age. However, people with unknown age were excluded from calculations of rates.

‘All cancers combined’ comprises ICD-10 codes C00–C96, D45, D46, D47.1 and D47.3–D47.5 excluding those C44 codes that indicate a basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.

Ovarian cancer and serous carcinomas of the fallopian tubes' comprises ICD-10 codes C56 for all histology types and C57.0 and C57.8 with histology codes 8441, 8460–8461. This reporting group is likely more closely aligned to how ovarian cancer was historically understood.

Methodology

Remoteness

For 2012–2016 data, the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016 was used to allocate participants to a remoteness area based on their area of usual residence, and for 2010–2014 data the now superseded Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) 2011 was used.

Socioeconomic status

The Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD) was used to allocate participants to a SES quintile based on their area of usual residence.

For 2012–2016 data the 2016 IRSD was used, and for 2010–2014 data the 2011 IRSD was used.

Age standardisation

Australian incidence data for ‘all ages combined’ are age-standardised to the Australian population as at 30 June 2001 and are expressed per 100,000 population. These are calculated using the sum of estimated resident populations at 30 June for 2012–2016.

International incidence data are age-standardised to the World standard population at 2020, which generally give appreciably lower rates than standardisation to the Australian population due to differences in age weightings.⁸

International data

The GCO contains cancer incidence from cancer registries around the world. Various methodologies are applied to the GCO data differing by country and data availability. Incidence rates for Australia (in relation to international data), Canada, Germany, Ireland, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States of America were observed and projected to 2020. Incidence rates for Chile, France and Japan were estimated from national mortality data by modelling, using mortality-to-incidence ratios derived from cancer registries in that country.2,8 Additional details on methodology and data availability can be found: https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data-sources-methods.

Data presented for Korea is inclusive of the Republic of Korea only

Data sources

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer data in Australia. Cat. no. CAN 122. [Accessed May 2022]; https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Today 2020. World Health Organization. Lyon, France. https://gco.iarc.fr/today/home

Data caveat

Reliable national data on the diagnosis of cancer for Indigenous Australians are not available nationally. All state and territory cancer registries collect information on Indigenous status; however, in some jurisdictions the coverage of Indigenous status data is regarded as too inconsistent for inclusion in national incidence analyses. Information in the ACD on Indigenous status is considered to be of sufficient consistency for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Data for these five jurisdictions therefore were used to examine the incidence of cancer by Indigenous status.

References

Activity in this area

Data

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer data in Australia. Cat. no. CAN 122. [Accessed May 2022]; https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia

Social Health Atlases of Australia: Population Health areas – Cancer Incidence data. [Accessed July 2021]. Available from:https://phidu.torrens.edu.au/social-health-atlases/indicators-and-notes-...

References

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer data in Australia. Cat. no. CAN 122. [Accessed May 2022]; https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia
Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Piñeros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I, Bray F (2022). Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Today. International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon, France. [Accessed April 2022]; https://gco.iarc.fr/today.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018. Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. Cat. no. CAN 109. Web report. Canberra: AIHW. [Accessed Oct 2021]; https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-in-indigenous-australians/contents/table-of-contents
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. AIHW Australian Cancer Database 2017. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2021. Cervical screening in Australia 2021. Cancer series no. 123. Cat. no. CAN 124. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. AIHW Australian Cancer Database 2011. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare & Cancer Australia 2011. Lung cancer in Australia: an overview. Cancer series no. 64. Cat. no. CAN 58. Canberra: AIHW.
International Agency for Research on Cancer. Data and Methods: Cancer Today. Lyon, France [Accessed 22 May 2022]; https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data-sources-methods

Summary

Cancer incidence in Australia is increasing overallFrom 1982 to 2017, cancer incidence in Australia increased from 47,466 cases to 139,413 cases. 

Indigenous persons experienced higher incidence rates for some cancersIn 2012–2016, age-standardised incidence rates for all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma cancers of the skin) were higher in Indigenous than non-Indigenous Australians. Indigenous persons experienced higher age-standardised incidence rates than non-Indigenous persons for cancers of the bladder, cervix, head and neck, liver, lung, oesophagus, pancreas, unknown primary site, and uterus.

Cancer incidence rates for specific cancers were higher in remote areasIn 2012–2016, age-standardised incidence rates were higher in Remote and Very Remote areas combined, compared to Major Cities for cervical (49% higher), head and neck (68% higher), liver (13% higher), lung (21% higher), oesophagus (29% higher), and unknown primary site (44% higher) cancers.

Cancer incidence rates for specific cancers were higher in the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) areasIn 2012–2016, age-standardised incidence rates were higher in the lowest SES compared to the highest SES areas for all cancers combined (5% higher), bladder (20% higher), cervical (51% higher), colon (14% higher), colorectal (17% higher), head and neck (54% higher), liver (59% higher), lung (76% higher), oesophagus (34% higher), ovarian (11% higher), pancreatic (14% higher), rectum (23% higher), unknown primary site (54% higher) and uterus (16% higher) cancers. 

Revision Type

Minor

Version Number

National Cancer Control Indicators

Cancer incidence

Data

Summary

Cancer incidence in Australia is increasing overall

Indigenous persons experienced higher incidence rates for some cancers

Cancer incidence rates for specific cancers were higher in remote areas

Cancer incidence rates for specific cancers were higher in the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) areas

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Data

Summary

Cancer incidence in Australia is increasing overall

Indigenous persons experienced higher incidence rates for some cancers

Cancer incidence rates for specific cancers were higher in remote areas

Cancer incidence rates for specific cancers were higher in the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) areas

Related features

NCCI – About the Data

Data to Inform Cancer Control