Five-year prevalence

Published

14 Sep, 2018

[Please note, the descriptive text in this measure is currently being updated to reflect the most current data. To access the most up-to-date data please refer to the charts tab]

Cancer prevalence is defined in this report as the number of people alive who have had a diagnosis of cancer during a specified period of time. Prevalence is determined by two other indictors in the NCCI Framework – incidence (the number of new cases of cancer) and survival (the observed number of cancer survivors).¹

Summary

The number of Australians still alive following a cancer diagnosis sometime in the previous five years is increasingSince 2004 there has been a 38% increase in the number of Australians still alive following a cancer diagnosis sometime in the previous five years (297,142 in 2004, compared to 410,530 in 2012).

Five-year cancer prevalence rates were higher among males than femalesFive-year cancer prevalence rates were higher among males than females (1,859 compared to 1,349 per 100,000 persons).

Data

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Notes

The chart shows the number of people alive in the reference year who had been diagnosed with cancer within the previous 5 years.

5-year prevalence (number of people), all cancers combined, 2004 to 2013
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Cancer type

Notes

• Data sourced from the AIHW Australian Cancer Database 2013.
• The chart shows the number of people diagnosed in 2009–2013 who were still alive at the end of 2013.

5-year prevalence (number of people), by cancer type, 2013
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Notes

• Data sourced from the AIHW Australian Cancer Database 2013.
• The chart shows the number of people diagnosed in 2009–2013 who were still alive at the end of 2013 per 100,000 population.
• The rates given for specific age groups are age-specific rates. The rates given for 'Total' are age-standardised rates using the 2001 Australian Standard Population.

5-year prevalence rate, by cancer type and age group, 2013
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Notes

• Data sourced from the AIHW Australian Cancer Database 2013. Data are for NSW, Vic, Qld, WA and the NT only.
• 'Total' category includes persons for whom Indigenous status is unknown.
• The chart shows the number of people diagnosed in 2009–2013 who were still alive at the end of 2013.
• The rates given are age-standardised rates per 100,000. They are calculated using the estimated resident populations at 31 December 2013 which are based on the average of the estimated resident populations at 30 June of 2013 and 2014, then age-standardised against the 2001 Australian Standard Population.

5-year prevalence rate, by Indigenous status, 2013
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Notes

• Data sourced from the AIHW Australian Cancer Database 2013.
• The chart shows the number of people diagnosed in 2009–2013 who were still alive at the end of 2013 per 100,000 population.
• Age-standardised using the 2001 Australian Standard Population.
• Remoteness areas are classified according to the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Area (2011).

5-year prevalence rate, by residential remoteness, 2013
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Notes

• Data sourced from the AIHW Australian Cancer Database 2013.
• The chart shows the number of people diagnosed in 2009–2013 who were still alive at the end of 2013 per 100,000 population.
• Age-standardised using the 2001 Australian Standard Population.

5-year prevalence rate, by socioeconomic status, 2013

About this measure

Prevalence is an important high-level population-health indicator of the burden of cancer. It can reflect the number of people undergoing treatment, follow-up care or ongoing cancer monitoring, and therefore the potential demand for services.^2.3

Cancer prevalence can be expressed as an absolute number, or as a rate (e.g. number per 100,000 population) for comparisons between groups. Five-year prevalence is used as a prevalence indicator in this report, as measured for the end of 2012. That is, prevalence figures refer to the number of people diagnosed in the period between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012 who were still alive at the end of 2012.

Current status

410,530 Australians were diagnosed with cancer in the period between January 2008 and December 2012 and were still alive at the end of 2012. Prostate cancer had the highest five-year prevalence in this period (94,144 persons) followed by breast cancer (65,976), colorectal cancer (52,630) and melanoma (51,697).

Five-year prevalence rates were higher among males due to higher rates among males than females in older age groups (55 years and over). For example, 8.2% of men aged 65–74 had been diagnosed with cancer in the previous five years compared with 4.6% of females. Of these men, 52% had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The female rate was higher than the male rate among those aged 45–54, with 1.9% of women in this age group having been diagnosed with cancer in the previous five years compared with 1.3% of males. Of these women, 48% were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

For those parts of Australia where data were available, a lower proportion of Indigenous Australians (1.0%) were observed to have been diagnosed with a cancer in the previous five years when compared with non-Indigenous Australians (1.4%). The disparity in five-year prevalence rates varied by cancer type, however. Five-year prevalence rates for lung, head and neck (incl. lip), uterine, and cervical cancer were higher among Indigenous Australians, while corresponding prevalence rates for prostate and female breast cancer were higher among non-Indigenous Australians.

Remoteness and socioeconomic disadvantage

Five-year prevalence rates for all cancers combined were similar across socioeconomic groups and remoteness areas, with the exception of Inner Regional areas which had the highest prevalence rates for both males and females.

There are some noticeable variations in five-year prevalence rate by cancer type however. For example, although overall prevalence numbers were relatively low for head and neck cancer, five-year prevalence rates were much higher in relative terms for males (0.09%) than females (0.03%), and were higher among males in the most disadvantaged than least disadvantaged areas. Notably the five-year prevalence rate was particularly high among males in the most disadvantaged areas.

Trends

Detailed data on trends in prevalence are not available. For all cancers combined, a combination of increasing incidence and increasing survival has led to an increase in five-year prevalence over time.²

About the data

This measure shows five-year “limited duration” prevalence measured at the end of 2012 where these data are available. Figures refer to the numbers of people diagnosed in the period between January 2008 and December 2012 who were still alive at the end of 2012.

Numerator: number of living people who were diagnosed with cancer in the past five years to 31 December 2012.

Denominator: total estimated resident population (ERP).

Some charts in this measure relating to specific population groups present data for the period January 2005 and December 2009. These will be updated in due course.

Age standardisation

Australian incidence data are age-standardised directly to the Australian population as at 30 June 2001 and are expressed per 100,000 population.

Definitions

‘All cancers combined' comprises ICD-10 codes C00–C97, D45–D46, D47.1 and D47.3 except basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin (part of C44).

Disaggregation by residential remoteness area is based on Statistical Local Areas. SES area is classified according to the SEIFA quintile. Disaggregation by SEIFA quintile is based on Statistical Local Area of usual residence at time of diagnosis, based on 2006 classifications.

Data source

Data are sourced from the Australian Cancer Database (ACD) 2013. Detailed information on the ACD is provided in the ‘About the Data’ tab of the NCCI indicator: Cancer incidence.

Five-year prevalence for 2004, 2007 and 2012 are sourced from published figures in:

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare & Australasian Association of Cancer Registries 2010. Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2010. Cancer series no. 60. Cat. no. CAN 56. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare & Australasian Association of Cancer Registries 2012. Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2012. Cancer series no. 74. Cat. no. CAN 70. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2017. Cancer in Australia 2017. Cancer series no. 101. Cat. no. CAN 100. Canberra: AIHW.

Refer to Appendix F of Cancer survival and prevalence in Australia: period estimates from 1982 to 2010 for more detailed methodological information about cancer prevalence.²

Data caveats:

Data shown for 'Indigenous', 'Non-Indigenous', and 'Total' are for NSW, Qld, WA and the NT only, as the information on Indigenous status in these jurisdictions is considered to be of sufficient completeness for reporting. For NSW cancer cases in 2009, the data from death certificates and coded cause of death had not been made available in time for incorporation into the ACD 2011. As death certificate data are used to supplement the cancer registry’s information about Indigenous status, this could impact on the presented tabular results.
For data disaggregated by residential remoteness and socioeconomic status, approximately 0.35% of records were excluded from the analysis because geographical information was not available.

References

Activity in this area

Data:

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2012. Cancer survival and prevalence in Australia: period estimates from 1982 to 2010. Cancer series. No 69. Cat. no. CAN 65. Canberra: AIHW.

References

1.National Cancer Institute. Cancer Prevalence. Available from: http://seer.cancer.gov/statistics/types/prevalence.html [accessed November 2016]

2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2012. Cancer survival and prevalence in Australia: period estimates from 1982 to 2010. Cancer series. No 69. Cat. no. CAN 65. Canberra: AIHW.

3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2014. Cancer in Australia: an overview 2014. Cancer series. No 90. Cat. no. CAN 88. Canberra: AIHW.

4. AIHW 2017. Cancer in Australia 2017. Cancer series no. 101. Cat. no. CAN 100. Canberra: AIHW.

Revision Type

Minor

Version Number

1.1

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Summary

The number of Australians still alive following a cancer diagnosis sometime in the previous five years is increasing

Five-year cancer prevalence rates were higher among males than females

Data