Rates of skin cancers in Australia are high and still growing, but there is good news on the horizon
Rates of skin cancers in Australia are high and still growing, but there is good news on the horizon, a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found.
The report, Skin Cancer in Australia, said that nearly 13,300 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in 2016.
“Since 1982, the rate of melanoma in the population has almost doubled [to be] up from 27 to 49 cases per 100,000,” institute spokesman Justin Harvey said.
But long-running public education campaigns warning about the dangers of prolonged sun exposure have most likely led to a fall in the rates of melanomas and non-melanoma skins cancers among younger people.
“The good news is that for people aged under 40 the rate has dropped, from 13 cases per 100,000 people in 2002, to about nine in 2016,” he said.
The overall increase in melanoma rates in Australia might also be due to better detection of the skin cancers than in the past, Mr Harvey said.
The report also found that survival rates from melanoma were relatively high, with those diagnosed from 2007 to 2011 having a 90% chance of surviving for at least five years. This compares with a 67% survival rate after five years for all other cancers combined.
Australia has the second highest rate of skin cancer diagnoses in the world, after New Zealand, and it is estimated two in three Australians will be diagnosed with some form of skin cancer by the time they reach 70 years of age.
