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Cancer mortality

Published 
30 Jun, 2020

Looking at how many people die and what caused their death can provide important information about the overall health status of a population.1 Mortality rates provides a useful indication of the diseases that have a greater impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait population. Between 2011-2015 cancer was the second leading cause of death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait people, contributing to 21% of deaths across the New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.2 Lung cancer was the most common cancer causing mortality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the period 2012 to 2016.3 About one-third of cancer deaths are preventable.4 Every year in Australia, more than 13,000 cancer deaths are due to tobacco smoking, sun exposure, unhealthy diet, risky drinking of alcohol, not enough exercise or being overweight.

All of Australia’s states and territories have legislation mandating the notification of cancer diagnoses. Currently, cancer mortality data are available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory for the years 2012 to 2016.5

Summary

Between 2012 and 2016 2,917 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people deaths were attributed to cancer

In the period 2012–2016, there were 2,917 deaths from cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (1,518 males and 1,399 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for all cancers combined was 234.5 deaths per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The age-standardised cancer mortality rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is higher for males than females

In the period 2012-2016, the age-standardised mortality rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 268.0 deaths per 100,000 for males compared to 209.0 deaths per 100,000 for females.

Data

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  • Age-specific mortality, by sex
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    Notes 
    • Data sourced from AIHW
    • Data shown for 'Indigenous' and 'Total' are for NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT only.
    • 'Total' age group includes counts of deaths with unknown age. However, deaths with unknown age were excluded from calculations of rates.
    • Rates are calculated using the sum of estimated resident populations at 30 June for 2012–2016. The rates given for age groups are age-specific rates per 100,000. The rates given for 'Total' are age-standardised rates per 100,000, standardised against the 2001 Australian Standard Population.
    • Rates are not published where there were fewer than 5 people.
    Age-specific mortality for all cancers combined and for selected cancers, by sex, 2012-2016
About this measure

The cancer mortality gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the broader Australian community is evident.6 Identifying strategies to address key risk factors that contribute to the mortality gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is crucial.7

Cancer mortality data refer to the number of deaths in a calendar year for which the underlying cause is cancer. This can be presented as absolute numbers of deaths or as rates per 100,000 people. Mortality rates are often age-standardised to enable comparisons across different populations that may have different age profiles, as the likelihood of death from cancer generally increases with age.5 Age-specific rates are used to compare cancer mortality between different age groups.

Age-standardised and age-specific data are released 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 by ICD-10 code.5

For comparisons across the broader Australian population by cancer type, see the NCCI ‘Cancer mortality’.

Current status

Limited data are available on cancer mortality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, due to insufficient quality of Indigenous status data in some jurisdictions. For more information see ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification in national cancer data’ page. Mortality data of sufficient quality are available for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with these five jurisdictions accounting for 88% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.5 The data provided here on cancer mortality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are sourced from these five jurisdictions.

All cancers combined (ICD-10 codes C00–C97, D45–D46, D47.1, D47.3–D47.5)

In the period 2012–2016, there were 2,917 deaths from cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (1,518 males and 1,399 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for all cancers combined was 234.5 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate was 268.0 deaths per 100,000 for males and 209.0 deaths per 100,000 for females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for all cancers combined increased with age. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among males and females aged between 55 and 84 years.

Choose a cancer type below for further information:

In the period 2012–2016, there were 47 deaths from bladder cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (32 males and 15 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for bladder cancer was 5.4 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate for males (9.0 deaths per 100,000) was more than three times higher than the mortality rate for females (2.7 deaths per 100,000).

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for bladder cancer appears to increase with age. However, due to the small number of cancers reported for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, caution is advised when using this data as it may not reflect the true population mortality rates attributable to bladder cancer across each age group.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 46 deaths from brain cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (23 males and 23 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for brain cancer was 2.6 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate was 2.3 deaths per 100,000 for males and 2.8 deaths per 100,000 for females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for brain cancer appears to be highest in the 45-54 year age group. However, due to the small number of cancers reported for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, caution is advised when using this data as it may not reflect the true population mortality rates attributable to brain cancer across each age group.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 176 deaths from breast cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females. The age-standardised mortality rate for female breast cancer was 23.7 deaths per 100,000 females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for breast cancer increased with age for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females. Age-specific mortality rates generally increased with age, peaking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females aged 55-64 years.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 61 deaths from cervical cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females. The age-standardised mortality rate for cervical cancer was 7.5 deaths per 100,000 females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for cervical cancer increased with age for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among females aged between 65 and 74 years.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 162 deaths from colorectal cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (95 males and 67 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for colorectal cancer was 13.6 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate was 16.8 deaths per 100,000 for males and 10.9 deaths per 100,000 for females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for colorectal cancer increased with age.1 Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females aged between 45 and 84 years, with males having higher rates than females in each age group reported.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 75 deaths from colon cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (34 males and 41 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for colon cancer was 6.9 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate was 6.3 deaths per 100,000 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and 7.3 deaths per 100,000 for females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for colon cancer increased with age. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females aged between 65 and 84 years.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 87 deaths from rectal cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (61 males and 26 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for rectal cancer was 6.6 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (10.5 deaths per 100,000) was three times higher than the mortality rate for females (3.6 deaths per 100,000).

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for rectal cancer increased with age. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females aged between 75 and 84 years. Males had mortality rates at least two times higher than females for each age group reported.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 204 deaths from head and neck cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (155 males and 49 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for head and neck cancer was 13.4 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (21.4 deaths per 100,000) was more than three times higher than the mortality rate for females (6.6 deaths per 100,000).

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for head and neck cancers increased with age. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females aged between 55 and 84 years. Males had mortality rates two to four times higher than females for each age group reported, with the largest difference being in the 55-64 year age group (69.1 compared to 17.2 per 100,000 respectively).

In the period 2012–2016, there were 202 deaths liver from cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (119 males and 83 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for liver cancer was 15.3 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (20.5 deaths per 100,000) was nearly double the mortality rate for females (11.2 deaths per 100,000).

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for liver cancer increased with age. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females aged between 45 and 84 years.  While the 55-64 year age group mortality rates were similar for males and females, all other reported age groups in the 45-84 year range reported rates for males that were at least two times higher than the rates reported for females.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 780 deaths from lung cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (417 males and 363 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for lung cancer was 61.2 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate was 71.4 deaths per 100,000 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and 53.2 deaths per 100,000 for females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for lung cancer increased with age. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females aged between 55 and 84 years. Males had higher mortality rates than females for each age group reported, with the largest difference being in the 35-44 year age group where the mortality rate was three times higher (10.3 compared to 3.2 per 100,000 respectively).

In the period 2012–2016, there were 24 deaths from melanoma among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (16 males and 8 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for melanoma of the skin was 2.1 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate for males (4.1 deaths per 100,000) was more than four times higher than the mortality rate for females (0.9 deaths per 100,000).

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for melanoma of the skin appears to increase with age, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males having a mortality rate two times higher than females in the 15 years and over age group (1.6 compared to 0.8 per 100,000). However, due to the small number of skin melanomas reported, caution is advised when using this data as it may not reflect the true population mortality rates attributable to these melanomas across each age group.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 52 deaths from Non-Hodgkin lymphoma among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (32 males and 20 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma was 4.2 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (6.3 deaths per 100,000) was more than double the mortality rate for females (2.6 deaths per 100,000).

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma increased with age.1 Due to the small number of these cancers reported, comparisons between age groups and sexes were not possible.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 118 deaths from oesophageal cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (93 males and 25 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for oesophageal cancer was 7.8 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate was three times higher for males (12.2 deaths per 100,000) than females (3.9 deaths per 100,000).

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for oesophageal cancer increased with age, except for a decrease in rate in the 65-74 year age group. Age-specific mortality rates were higher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males than females across all age groups and highest among males and females aged between 75 and 84 years.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 38 deaths from ovarian cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females. The age-standardised mortality rate for ovarian cancer was 5.8 deaths per 100,000 females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for ovarian cancer increased with age. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females aged between 65 and 84 years, with these mortality rates being around 6 times higher than the younger age groups.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 158 deaths from pancreatic cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (81 males and 77 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for pancreatic cancer was 12.3 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate was 12.8 deaths per 100,000 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and 11.8 deaths per 100,000 for females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for pancreatic cancer increased with age.1 Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females aged between 65 and 84 years. Mortality rates for males were higher than females across the 45 to 74 year age groups, but higher in females for the 75-84 year age group (97.1 compared to 74.3 per 100,000).

In the period 2012–2016, there were 81 deaths from prostate cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males. The age-standardised mortality rate for prostate cancer was 23.8 deaths per 100,000 males.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for prostate cancer increased with age. Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males aged over 75 years.

In the period 2012–2016, there were 195 deaths from cancers of unknown primary site among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (98 males and 97 females). The age-standardised mortality rate for cancer of unknown primary site was 17.6 deaths per 100,000 persons. The age-standardised rate was 16.7 deaths per 100,000 for males and 17.8 deaths per 100,000 for females.

In the same period, the age-specific mortality rate for cancer of unknown primary site increased with age.1 Age-specific mortality rates were highest among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females aged over 55 years. The 45-54 year age group showed the largest difference between males and females, with males having mortality rates nearly three times higher than females (14.5 compared to 5.0 per 100,000 persons).

In the period 2012–2016, there were 34 deaths from uterine cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females. The age-standardised mortality rate for uterine cancer was 5.8 deaths per 100,000 females. Due to the small number of uterine cancers reported, comparisons between age groups were not possible and caution is advised when using this data, as it may not reflect the true population mortality rates attributable to uterine cancer across each age group.
Trends

Trend data are available for individual years over the period 1998 to 2015. Rates can vary from year to year, so caution is advised when comparing data between individual years. From 1998 to 2015, the age-standardised mortality rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased from 194.8 to 245.5 deaths per 100,000 persons.

Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, the age-standardised mortality rate increased from 209.4 in 1998 to 281.0 in 2015 per 100,000 males. Among females, the age-standardised mortality rate increased from 189.7 in 1998 to 218.4 in 2015 per 100,000 females.

About the data

Cancer mortality refers to the number of deaths for which the underlying cause was a primary cancer, during a specified time period (usually one year). The major source of cancer mortality data is the National Mortality Database (NMD), which is compiled by the AIHW from data provided by the state and territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the National Coronial Information System, and coded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Unlike the incidence data, the mortality data include basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin.

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.

Mortality data up to 2014 are based on the year of occurrence of the death, and data for 2015 are based on the year of registration of the death. The reason for using registrations rather than deaths for 2015 was to gain the best estimates in advance of all deaths being counted at the time of data extraction.

Reliable national data on cancer mortality for Indigenous Australians are not available nationally. All state and territory cancer registries collect information on Indigenous status; however, in some jurisdictions the quality of Indigenous status data is regarded as insufficient for inclusion in national mortality analyses. Information on Indigenous status is considered to be sufficient for inclusion for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Data for these five jurisdictions therefore were used to examine the mortality from cancer by Indigenous status (i.e. Indigenous and non-Indigenous).5

Age standardisation

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

Data sources

  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. National Mortality Database.
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018. Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.
References

Activity in this area

Policy

Cancer Australia. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Framework. 2015 Available from: https://canceraustralia.gov.au/publications-and-resources/cancer-australia-publications/overlay-context=affected-cancer/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people/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. Australian Cancer Mortality and Mortality (ACIM) books provide mortality rates for other cancer types (http://www.aihw.gov.au/acim-books/).

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018. Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-in-indigenous-australians/contents/table-of-contents 

 

References

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2019. Deaths in Australia. Cat no. PHE 229. Canberra: AIHW.

2. Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council, 2017, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2017 Report, AHMAC, Canberra.

3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2019. Cancer in Australia 2019. Cancer series no.119. Cat. no. CAN 123. Canberra: AIHW

4. Cancer Council Australia (2014). What is cancer?. [Accessed May 2020]; Available at: http://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/

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

6. Cancer Australia. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Framework. Sydney, 2015 [Accessed May 2020]; Available at: https://canceraustralia.gov.au/publications-and-resources/cancer-australia-publications/overlay-context=affected-cancer/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people/national-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-cancer-framework

7. Department of Health, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023, Australian Government, Canberra, 2015 [Accessed May 2020]; Available at: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/natsih-plan

Revision Type 
Major
Version Number 
1.0.0

In this measure

Other measures in this indicator

  • Cancer mortality
  • Recurrence
  • 5-year cancer survival

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