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CANCER (C00-D48)

In 2007, Cancer (C00-D48) was the underlying cause of 40,287 registered deaths in Australia. This accounted for 29% of all registered deaths. The ratio of male (22,774) to female (17,513) deaths in 2007 remained steady at 130 male deaths per 100 female deaths. Deaths due to Malignant cancers (C00-C97) account for 39,323 deaths or 98% of all cancers. The median age of persons dying from Malignant cancers has continued to rise, from 72.8 years in 1998 to 74.7 years in 2007.

Cancers of the digestive organs (C15-C26) accounted for 11,010 deaths. Of these, Colon cancer (C18) accounted for the largest number of deaths with 2,539. This represented an increase of 4.4% from 2006 (2,432). The median age at death for people dying of Colon cancer was 74.8 years for males and 79.0 years for females.

Pancreatic cancer (C25) was the second highest contributor to deaths from Cancers of the digestive organs, accounting for 2,248 deaths. There was a small difference between the number of males (1,233) and females (1,015) with Pancreatic cancer as the underlying cause of death in 2007, however, the median age of males dying of Pancreatic cancer (71.4) was lower than for females (76.9) dying of the same cause.

There were 7,922 deaths attributed to Cancers of the respiratory system and heart (C30-C39), accounting for 20% of all malignant cancers. Lung cancer (C34) was the underlying cause of 7,623 (96%) deaths due to Cancers of the respiratory system and heart. The male to female ratio of deaths with Lung cancer as the underlying cause of death, has dropped from 232.1 male deaths per 100 female deaths in 1998 to 161.9 male deaths per 100 female deaths in 2007. However, since 1998, the number of female deaths from this cause has increased by 882 while the number of male deaths has increased by only 7. Males, whose underlying cause of death was Lung cancer, had a marginally lower median age at death (73.3 years) than females (73.5 years) with the same underlying cause.

Prostate cancer (C61) was the underlying cause of 4.2% of all male deaths registered in 2007. Male deaths with this underlying cause have increased gradually from 2,556 in 1998 to 2,952 in 2006, remaining consistent at 2,938 in 2007. The median age at death for Prostate cancer was 81.1 years. This was close to the median age for all deaths (80.5 years) and continues to follow a steady upward trend from 78.6 years in 1998.

For females, Breast cancer (C50) was the underlying cause of 4.0% of all female deaths registered in 2007. Female deaths due to this cause have increased gradually from 2,557 in 1998, to 2,618 in 2006 and 2,680 in 2007. The median age at death was 68.4 years for females, 15.1 years lower than the median age for all female deaths (83.5 years). There were also 26 males with an underlying cause of death of Breast cancer in 2007. The median age at death for these men was 76.3 years.

3.2 SELECTED UNDERLYING CAUSES(a), Cancer (C00-D48) - 2007(b)(c)
				MALES	FEMALES	PERSONS	PROPORTION OF ALL DEATHS
Cause of Death and ICD Code				no.	no.	no.	%
Cancer (C00-D48)				22 774	17 513	40 287	29.2
	Malignant neoplasms (C00-C97)			22 248	17 075	39 323	28.5
		Malignant neoplasms of lip, oral cavity and pharynx (C00-C14)		474	202	676	0.5
			Malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified parts of tongue (C02)	122	47	169	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified parts of mouth (C06)	35	30	65	-
			Malignant neoplasm of parotid gland (C07)	29	24	53	-
			Malignant neoplasm of tonsil (C09)	40	10	50	-
			Malignant neoplasm of oropharynx (C10)	46	15	61	-
			Malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites in the lip, oral cavity and pharynx (C14)	56	20	76	0.1
		Malignant neoplasms of digestive organs (C15-C26)		6 327	4 683	11 010	8.0
			Malignant neoplasm of oesophagus (C15)	790	308	1 098	0.8
			Malignant neoplasm of stomach (C16)	704	425	1 129	0.8
			Malignant neoplasm of small intestine (C17)	50	54	104	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of colon (C18)	1 295	1 244	2 539	1.8
			Malignant neoplasm of rectosigmoid junction (C19)	422	319	741	0.5
			Malignant neoplasm of rectum (C20)	474	293	767	0.6
			Malignant neoplasm of anus and anal canal (C21)	30	30	60	-
			Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)	717	392	1 109	0.8
			Malignant neoplasm of gallbladder (C23)	49	125	174	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified parts of biliary tract (C24)	54	37	91	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	1 233	1 015	2 248	1.6
			Malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined digestive organs (C26)	509	441	950	0.7
		Malignant neoplasms of respiratory and intrathoracic organs (C30-C39)		4 955	2 967	7 922	5.7
			Malignant neoplasm of larynx (C32)	192	22	214	0.2
			Malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung (C34)	4 713	2 910	7 623	5.5
		Malignant neoplasms of bone and articular cartilage (C40-C41)		65	53	118	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage of other and unspecified sites (C41)	57	49	106	0.1
		Melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin (C43-C44)		1 169	558	1 727	1.3
			Malignant melanoma of skin (C43)	864	415	1 279	0.9
			Other malignant neoplasms of skin (C44)	305	143	448	0.3
		Malignant neoplasms of mesothelial and soft tissue (C45-C49)		597	263	860	0.6
			Mesothelioma (C45)	464	87	551	0.4
			Malignant neoplasm of retroperitoneum and peritoneum (C48)	17	65	82	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of other connective and soft tissue (C49)	103	107	210	0.2
		Malignant neoplasm of breast (C50)		26	2 680	2 706	2.0
			Malignant neoplasm of breast (C50)	26	2 680	2 706	2.0
		Malignant neoplasms of female genital organs (C51-C58)		-	1 502	1 502	1.1
			Malignant neoplasm of vulva (C51)	-	65	65	-
			Malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri (C53)	-	208	208	0.2
			Malignant neoplasm of corpus uteri (C54)	-	208	208	0.2
			Malignant neoplasm of uterus, part unspecified (C55)	-	130	130	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of ovary (C56)	-	848	848	0.6
		Malignant neoplasms of male genital organs (C60-C63)		2 981	-	2 981	2.2
			Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	2 938	-	2 938	2.1
		Malignant neoplasms of urinary tract (C64-C68)		1 198	652	1 850	1.3
			Malignant neoplasm of kidney, except renal pelvis (C64)	539	316	855	0.6
			Malignant neoplasm of bladder (C67)	630	295	925	0.7
		Malignant neoplasms of eye, brain and other parts of central nervous system (C69-C72)		683	478	1 161	0.8
			Malignant neoplasm of brain (C71)	666	457	1 123	0.8
		Malignant neoplasms of thyroid and other endocrine glands (C73-C75)		70	84	154	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of thyroid gland (C73)	41	64	105	0.1
		Malignant neoplasms of ill-defined, secondary and unspecified sites (C76-C80)		1 318	1 211	2 529	1.8
			Malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites (C76)	71	114	185	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm without specification of site (C80)	1 242	1 093	2 335	1.7
		Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)		2 067	1 536	3 603	2.6
			Hodgkin's disease (C81)	43	27	70	0.1
			Diffuse non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (C83)	106	44	150	0.1
			Peripheral and cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (C84)	37	27	64	-
			Other and unspecified types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (C85)	573	504	1 077	0.8
			Multiple myeloma and malignant plasma cell neoplasms (C90)	369	329	698	0.5
			Lymphoid leukaemia (C91)	252	172	424	0.3
			Myeloid leukaemia (C92)	544	338	882	0.6
			Leukaemia of unspecified cell type (C95)	89	60	149	0.1
		Malignant neoplasms of independent (primary) multiple sites (C97)		318	206	524	0.4
			Malignant neoplasms of independent (primary) multiple sites (C97)	318	206	524	0.4
		Other Neoplasms (D00-D48)		526	438	964	0.7
		Benign neoplasms (D10-D36)		53	53	106	0.1
			Benign neoplasm of meninges (D32)	19	34	53	-
		Neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behaviour (D37-D48)		473	384	857	0.6
			Neoplasm of uncertain or unknown behaviour of oral cavity and digestive organs (D37)	33	22	55	-
			Neoplasm of uncertain or unknown behaviour of brain and central nervous system (D43)	76	61	137	0.1
			Myelodysplastic syndromes (D46)	233	159	392	0.3
			Other neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behaviour of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (D47)	79	85	164	0.1
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Causes selected are those with 50 or more deaths at the 3 digit level of ICD-10.
(b) Causes of death data for 2007 is subject to revision. See Explanatory Notes 3-4 for further information.
(c) Data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. As a result, some totals will not equal the sum of their components. It is important to note that cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation.