CANBERRA, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The five-year survival rate for Australian cancer patients has increased by 22 percentage points over the last 30 years, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) said that the five-year relative survival rate for all cancer patients was 72 percent between 2017 and 2021, compared to 50 percent between 1987 and 1991.
The AIHW report said that the survival rate for breast cancer, the most common form of cancer among Australian women, improved from 75 percent between 1987 and 1991 to 93 percent between 2017 and 2021.
For prostate cancer, the most common cancer among Australian men, the five-year relative survival rate improved from 60 percent to 96 percent in the same time period.
The overall age-standardized cancer mortality rate in Australia has declined from 257 deaths per 100,000 people in 2000 to 194 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025.
AIHW spokesperson Justin Harvey said in a statement that cancer diagnosis rates for Australians aged in their 30s and 40s are rising, but mortality rates are generally decreasing.
For Australians aged 30-39, the age-standardized rate of cancer incidence increased from 121 to an estimated 135 cases per 100,000 people between 2000 and 2025, driven by higher rates of bowel and thyroid cancer.
The cancer incidence rate for people aged 40-49 rose from 280 to 313 cases per 100,000 people in the same period. ■
