How common is cancer?
In NSW, 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with a type of cancer by the age of 85.
There were 42,079 new cases of cancer diagnosed in NSW in 2012*. This is projected to rise to 54,106 by 2021.
Men are 1.3 times more likely than women to be diagnosed with cancer (23,828 men and 18,251 women).
The most common cancers in NSW are prostate, bowel, breast, melanoma and lung. These account for about 61% of all cancers diagnosed.
Advances in prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer mean that many more people are surviving and living longer with cancer. It is estimated that 67.2% of people with cancers in NSW were still alive five years after the cancer was diagnosed.
For statistics on a specific cancer type, see Cancer information.
* incidence data is currently available up until 2012
For more information
- For cancer statistics in NSW, see Cancer Institute.
- For statistics on the most recently published Australian incidence figures, see the Australian Cancer Incidence and Mortality (ACIM) books on the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) website.
References
The facts and figures on this page were sourced from the Cancer Institute.
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