Cancer incidence

Published

30 Jun, 2021

Every day in Australia, around five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are diagnosed with cancer. ^1,2

Cancer incidence refers to the number of new cases of cancer diagnosed in a specified time period.

Cancer incidence data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are available from four states and territories: New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.^1,2

In these four jurisdictions, during 2011–2015, 3435 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and 3490 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were diagnosed with cancer. This equated with about 500 out of every 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in these states and territories being diagnosed with cancer each year.^1,2

The most common cancers diagnosed among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are lung cancer, female breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and head and neck cancer. Some cancers are more common among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with the rest of the Australian population. They include lung cancer, liver cancer, head and neck cancer and cervical cancer.¹

As with the general population, the likelihood of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person being diagnosed with a cancer increases with increasing age.¹ The age-standardised incidence rate for most cancer types is higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men than women.¹

Data

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Age-specific incidence, by sex

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Notes

• Please note: information regarding data prior to 2011–2015 is provided under the ‘Trends’ tab.
• Data sourced from AIHW Australian Cancer Database.
• Data shown for 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' are for NSW, Qld, WA and the NT only.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age-specific cancer incidence, by sex, 2011–2015

About this measure

This measure provides data on cancer incidence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples sourced from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The data account for about 82.9%⁴ of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

Data source

When a new case of cancer in Australia is diagnosed, it is reported to the cancer registry in the state or territory where the person lives. Notification of new cancer diagnoses to the cancer registry is required by law. National data, using data from each state and territory cancer registry, is collated in the Australian Cancer Database, which is maintained by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).⁵

Data about cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia rely on information being collected in cancer registries about whether a person diagnosed with cancer identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. While every registry collects information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, the consistency of this information varies. For more information see ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification in national cancer data’. Currently, information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status from cancer registries in four states and territories is considered to have sufficient consistency for inclusion in national reports and analyses of cancer incidence: i.e., New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.

Cases vs rates

Cancer incidence data are presented as absolute numbers of cases or as incidence rates. Absolute numbers indicate the total number of cases of cancer diagnosed in a specified time period. Cancer incidence rates are reported as the number of cases of cancer diagnosed per 100,000 people in the population of interest. Incidence rates are often age-standardised to remove the influence of age when comparing cancer data among different populations. This is because the likelihood of being diagnosed with most types of cancer increases with age.^1,3 Cancer incidence rates in Australia are standardised to the Australian population as at 30 June 2001.

For example:⁵

• number of cases: in 2011–2015, 1,040 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were diagnosed with lung cancer

• age-standardised incidence: in 2011–2015, the age-standardised incidence rate of lung cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 82.8 cases per 100,000 people.

Age-specific cancer incidence rates are used to compare cancer incidence across specific age groups.^1,3

For example:⁵

• during the period 2011–2015, the incidence of lung cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 55–64 years was 195.1 cases per 100,000 people compared with 341.2 cases per 100,000 people for those aged 85+ years.

Cancer types

Data about cancer incidence (including age-standardised and age-specific incidence data) are published by the AIHW for individual cancer types and cancer groupings.³ Tumour types and groupings are classified by ICD-10 code.⁶ Cancer incidence data exclude basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin.⁵

About the data

Cancer incidence indicates the number of new cancers diagnosed during a specified time period. 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 2015 national incidence counts include estimates for NSW in place of actual data, which were not available at the time of publication.

Population

Population data for age-specific rates is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).¹⁰

Methodology

Age standardisation

Australian incidence data are age-standardised to the Australian population as at 30 June 2001 and are expressed per 100,000 population for “all ages combined” categories.⁵

Age specific rates (for age groupings of 0-14, 15-24, 25-34 years, etc) are calculated using the combined (2011 to 2015) estimated resident populations at 30 June or each year.⁵

Data source

Australian Cancer Database (ACD)

Data caveat

Consistent data on the diagnosis of cancer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not available nationally. All state and territory cancer registries collect information on Indigenous status; however, in some jurisdictions the methodological consistency of Indigenous status data is considered to vary too much for inclusion in national incidence analyses. Information in the ACD on Indigenous status is considered to be of sufficient consistency for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Data for these four jurisdictions therefore were used to examine the incidence of cancer by Indigenous status.

References

Activity in this area

Policy:

Cancer Australia. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Framework. 2015. Available from: https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/publications-and-resources/cancer-australia-publications/national-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-cancer-framework

Cancer Australia. Optimal Care Pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer. 2018 Available from: https://canceraustralia.gov.au/publications-and-resources/cancer-australia-publications/optimal-care-pathway-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people-cancer

Data:

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer Data in Australia. Web report. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia (accessed November 2020)

Social Health Atlases of Australia: Population Health areas – Cancer Incidence data: https://phidu.torrens.edu.au/social-health-atlases/indicators-and-notes-on-the-data/social-health-atlases-of-australia-contents#cancer-incidence (accessed October 2017)

References

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018. Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. Web report. Canberra: AIHW. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-in-indigenous-australians/contents/table-of-contents [Accessed November 2020]

2. Cancer Australia. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/Aboriginal-and-Torres-Strait-Islander-people [Accessed November 2020]

3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2020. Cancer Data in Australia. Web report. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia [Accessed November 2020]

4. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016. Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Web Report. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples/estimates-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-australians/jun-2016 [Accessed March 2021]

5. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Australian Cancer Database [Accessed November 2020].

6. World Health Organisation ICD-10 online versions https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/icdonlineversions/en/ [Accessed 6 November 2020]

7. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare & Cancer Australia 2013. Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia: an overview (Cancer series no. 78. Cat. no. CAN 75), AIHW, Canberra. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-in-indigenous-australians-overview/contents/table-of-contents [Accessed November 2020]

8. The Kirby Institute 2016. Bloodborne viral and sexually transmitted infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: surveillance and evaluation report 2016. The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney. https://kirby.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/kirby/report/ATSIP_2016-Aboriginal-Surveillance-Report_UPD170116.pdf [Accessed November 2020]

9. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015. The health and welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 2015. Cat. no. IHW 147, AIHW, Canberra. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-health-welfare/indigenous-health-welfare-2015/contents/table-of-contents [Accessed November 2020]

10. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2019. Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006 to 2031 (ABS cat. no. 3238.0). Web Report. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples/estimates-and-projections-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-australians/latest-release [Accessed March 2021]

Summary

Between 2011 and 2015, 6,925 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were diagnosed with cancer In the period 2011–2015, there were 6,925 new cancer cases diagnosed among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (3,435 males and 3,490 females). The age-standardised incidence rate for all cancers combined was 496.3 cases per 100,000 persons.

The cancer incidence rate did not change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopleWhen comparing 2011–2015 to the previous 5 years (2006–2010) the age-standardised incidence rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remained about the same; 496 per 100,000 persons in 2011–2015 compared to 495 per 100,000 persons in 2006–2010 respectively.

Revision Type

Major

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1.0.0

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Data

Summary

Between 2011 and 2015, 6,925 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were diagnosed with cancer

The cancer incidence rate did not change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people