Public health: prostate cancer most common

And while an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report suggests better detection is causing a spike in some cancer figures, it still provides the grim prognosis that cancer will be diagnosed in half of all men by the age of 85, compared with a third of all women.

The report shows that rates of PSA testing have risen 42% in the past five years, pushing up the number of prostate cancer cases by 50% to an estimated 18,700 in 2006.

In raw numbers, prostate cancer is proving to be deadlier than breast cancer, claiming the lives of 2837 men in 2003 compared with 2482 deaths in women with breast cancer, although more men are living longer with the disease.

Overall, the number of cancers diagnosed in Australia rose 26% between 1993 and 2003, more than twice the population increase over that time.

The report also found that people living outside cities were more likely to develop cancers such as melanoma and cervical, lung, head, neck and lip cancers and that cancer death rates for men from the bush are 10% higher than for city men. These higher rates were linked to lifestyle factors such as higher sun exposure and smoking rates and a tendency to put off visiting a doctor.

The Cancer Council Australia said the report showed urgent action was needed to improve programs and services for regional Australians, particularly as a Senate inquiry was under way into patient travel and accommodation schemes for those in remote areas needing treatment.

Cancer Council Australia CEO Professor Ian Olver said governments needed a dual approach to bridging the gap in services available in cities and rural areas. "Many Australians in remote communities cannot afford to travel to major population centres for treatment," he said. "Secondly, we need a series of regional cancer centres that could be based around where there are already radiotherapy services. We've got to push the expertise out into the country."

West Australian, 28/6/07, p15; Age, 28/6/07, p5; Hobart Mercury, 28/6/07, p2; Adelaide Advertiser, 28/6/07, p11; Canberra Times, 28/6/07,

http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10476

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