Cancer
In 2018, cancer and other neoplasms accounted for 10% of the total disease burden among First Nations people, and in the 5-year period 2015–2019 was the leading broad cause of death. Smoking is a risk factor for many types of cancer – in 2018, tobacco smoking accounted for around two-fifths of the cancer burden (37%).
In 2015–2019, 3,612 First Nations people died from cancer and other neoplasms (23.4% of all deaths), the vast majority of which were caused by cancer (that is, malignant neoplasms). Cancer accounted for 23.1% of all deaths, with a rate of 99 cancer deaths per 100,000 population.
For First Nations people, the most common broad types of cancer deaths were:
- cancers of digestive organs (including liver cancer), accounting for 30% of cancer deaths
- cancers of respiratory organs (including lungs), 26% of cancer deaths (Figure 4.15).
Figure 4.15: Leading causes of cancer and other neoplasm deaths for First Nations people, as a proportion of total cancer and other neoplasm deaths, by sex, 2015–2019
Note: Data from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory combined.
Source: Measure 1.23, Table D1.23.12 – AIHW and ABS analysis of National Mortality Database.
For First Nations people living in non-remote areas, the death rate due to cancer was 90 per 100,000 population, compared with 126 per 100,000 in remote areas.
There are several national cancer screening programs available free of charge for Australians to reduce the risk of death through early detection of cancer when treatment is likely to be more effective. However, First Nations people have lower rates of participation in breast and bowel cancer screening programs than non-Indigenous Australians (Table 4.3).
Table 4.3: Participation in cancer screening programs
|
|
First Nations (%) |
Non-Indigenous (%) |
|---|---|---|
|
Women aged 50–74 screened for breast cancer – age-standardised, 2019–20 |
36 |
50 |
|
People aged 50–74 participating in National Bowel Screening Program, 2019–2020(a) |
35 |
46 |
|
People aged 50–74 having follow up colonoscopy, where appropriate, 2017–2018 |
51 |
62 |
(a) Given the limitations in the data available to estimate Indigenous Australians’ participation in the NBCSP, caution should be used when interpreting these data (see Appendix F of AIHW 2021b).
Sources: Measure 3.04, Table D3.04.9 – AIHW analysis of BreastScreen Australia data; National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: monitoring report 2021.
Figure 4.16: Rate of cancer hospitalisations (2009–10 to 2018–19) and deaths (2010–2019), by Indigenous status (age-standardised)
Notes
1. Data on hospitalisations from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory combined.
2. Data on deaths from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory combined.
Source: Measure 1.08, Table D1.08.15 – AIHW analysis of National Hospital Morbidity Database; and Measure 1.23, Table D1.23.20 – AIHW National Mortality Database.
For many people, cancer diagnosis will lead to multiple hospitalisations for treatment and recovery. Between July 2017 and June 2019, there were 11,970 hospitalisations with a principal diagnosis of cancer for First Nations people, equivalent to a hospitalisation rate of 7.2 per 1,000 population. First Nations males had a higher hospitalisation rate than First Nations females, at 7.9 and 6.5 per 1,000 population, respectively.
Over the decade between 2009–10 and 2018–19, the age-standardised rate of hospitalisation with a principal diagnosis of cancer among First Nations people increased by 47% from 9.6 to 13 per 1,000 population (data from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory combined). Among First Nations people, age-standardised death rates from cancer increased by 12% between 2010 and 2019 (data from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory combined) (Figure 4.16).
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