More men surving cancer in Australia

Survival after cancer is improving significantly in Australia, especially among the better-off groups in the population, according to a report.

The report shows that between mid-1980s and early 2000s, the relative chances of surviving five years after a diagnosis of cancer increased significantly.

The increase was generally greater for men than for women, with all-cancer five-year relative survival for men increasing from 41 percent in 1982-1986 to 58 percent for those diagnosed in 1998-2004.

The greatest increases in survival were seen in the 50 to 69 year age range. This was due, at least in part, to screening programmes,’ said Mark Short of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) Health Registers and Cancer Monitoring Unit.

Not all cancers showed the same improvement over the period. The best improvements were seen in prostate cancer, kidney cancer, breast cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The least improvement was for brain cancer, which showed no significant change in survival.

Cancers with the lowest relative survival were pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, stomach cancer and cancer of unknown primary site.