These statistics are the most available at October 2008. The sources are listed at the end of the document.
Women
Incidence
- Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer among Australian women.
- The number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia increased from 5,370 in 1983 to 12,126 in 2004.
- The average age of first diagnosis was 60 years for a woman.
- The risk of breast cancer increases with age. About 24 per cent of new breast cancer cases diagnosed in 2002 were in women younger than 50 years; 50 per cent in women aged 50-69; and 26 per cent in women aged 70 and over.
- The age standardised incidence rate has increased from 80.7 in 1983 to 112.8 in 2004.
- Breast cancer is the most common cancer experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, but the incidence rate is lower than for the non-Indigenous population.
Mortality
- Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in women in Australia.
- There were 2,719 female deaths 2005.
- A woman's risk of dying from breast cancer before the age of 85 has been declining, from 1 in 29 risk in 1983 to a 1 in 35 risk in 2005.
- The age-standardised rate of death due to breast cancer among women has fallen markedly, on average 2% per annum, from 30.6 deaths per 100,000 females in 1990 to 23.7 deaths per 100,000 females in 2005.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women had 9% higher rates of breast cancer mortality than the Australian female population as a whole, based on age-standardised rates for the 2000-2004 period for Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory registered deaths.
- Australia's death rate from breast cancer was lower than the rates for New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America.
Survival
- For women, there was a significant increase in relative survival after diagnosis of breast cancer between 1982-1986 and 1998-2004. Five-year relative survival increased from 71.8% to 87.8%. Between 1982-1986 and 1998-2004 one-year relative survival increased from 93.2% to 96.7%.
- Five-year relative survival was 98% for women with 0–10 mm tumours, 95% for women with 11–15 mm tumours, 93% for women with 16–19 mm tumours, 88% for women with 20–29 mm tumours, 73% for women with tumours 30mm or greater.
- Five-year relative survival was 97% for women with negative nodal status, 80% for women with positive nodal status.
Prevalence
- It is estimated that in 2004 there were 129,438 women alive who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the previous 23 years.
Mammographic screening
Participation in the BreastScreen Australia screening program in 2004-2005 was 56.2% in the target age group of 50-69 years. Of the 1,614,871 women screened in 2004-2005, 1,188,720 were women in the target age group (74%). This represented an increase from 70% in the previous reporting period, 2003–2004.
Younger Women
While 75% of breast cancer cases develop in women 50 years and older, younger women can still develop the disease. 5.7% of new breast cancer cases are among women under the age of 40 years.
In Australia each year, about 700 women under the age of 40 years are diagnosed with breast cancer. Overall survival from breast cancer has increased in recent years. Most recent data shows that about 90% of women aged between 40 and 69 years at diagnosis will be alive after 5 years. However, for women younger than 40 years, survival is lower. Of younger women diagnosed with breast cancer, approximately 82.4% of those aged 20-29 years and 84.8% of those aged 30-39 years will be alive 5 years after diagnosis.
| Age (years) |
Five-year relative survival (1998-2004) (%) |
|---|---|
| 0 to 19 | 85 |
| 20 to 29 | 82.4 |
| 30 to 39 | 84.8 |
| 40 to 49 | 89.7 |
| 50 to 59 | 90.2 |
| 60 to 69 | 90.6 |
| 70 to 79 | 85.3 |
| 80 to 89 | 76.4 |
| 90 to 99 | 64.2 |
| All ages | 87.8 |
Men
Incidence
- Breast cancer in males is rare. The number of new cases of breast cancer in males per year increased from 43 in 1983 to 109 in 2004.
- In 2002 the average age of first diagnosis was 66 years for a man.
- The age standardised incidence rate has increased from 0.9 in 1983 to 1.1 in 2004
Mortality
- In 2005 there were 17 male deaths due to breast cancer.
- A man’s risk of dying from breast cancer before the age of 85yrs is declining. In 1983 men had a 1 in 3663 risk in 198 of dying. By 2005 this had risk had increased to a 1 in 3937.
Survival
- For males, there was no significant change in relative survival after diagnosis of breast cancer in males between 1982–1986 and 1998–2002. One-year relative survival increased from 93.4% to 94.5% and five-year relative survival slightly decreased from 80.0% to 79.7%.
Prevalence
- In 2002 it was estimated that there were 729 men alive who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the previous 23 years.
Sources
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), Cancer Australia & Australasian Association of Cancer Registries 2008. Cancer survival and prevalence in Australia: cancers diagnosed from 1982 to 2004. Cancer Series no. 42. Cat. no. CAN 38. Canberra: AIHW
AIHW & AACR (Australasian Association of Cancer Registries) 2007. Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2006. Cancer series no. 37. Cat. no. CAN 32. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2008. BreastScreen Australia monitoring report 2004–2005. Cancer series no. 42. Cat. no. CAN 37. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare & National Breast Cancer Centre 2006. Breast cancer in Australia: an overview, 2006. Cancer series no. 34. cat. no. CAN 29. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Cancer Incidence and Mortality books, Breast. http://www.aihw.gov.au/cancer/data/acim_books/index.cfm accessed October 2008.
