The epidemiology and prevention of cancer in Australia

Based on the numbers of new cancers diagnosed, deaths from cancer and person-years of life lost as a result of death from cancer, non-melanocytic skin cancer, lung cancer, cancers of the colon and rectum, breast cancer, cancer of the prostate, melanoma, cancer of the stomach, cancer of the bladder, cancer of the pancreas, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were judged to be the most important cancers in Australia in 1982. Of these, only cancer of the pancreas appeared to be decreasing in frequency, and then only since 1979, while cancers of the lung and malignant melanoma of the skin were increasing rapidly. By the turn of the century the number of new cases of cancer diagnosed in Australia each year will be at least 50% higher than it was in 1982, mainly as a result of population growth and ageing. Given what is presently known about the causes of cancer it may be estimated that about one-third of cancers occurring in Australia could be prevented through feasible programmes. More than half of this change would be achieved through the elimination of tobacco smoking. A further 13% of cancer deaths, and some non-fatal cases, could be prevented by the effective implementation of cancer screening programmes of established efficacy. Even after this, however, many of the currently important cancers would remain significant. They are, therefore, priority subjects for research in cancer control.