AIHW media releases

Despite a history of increasingly positive outcomes for many types of cancer in Australia, brain and other central nervous system cancers buck the trend, with no improvement in survival rates, according to a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, Brain and other central nervous system cancers, estimates that approximately 2,100 new cases of brain and other central nervous system cancers will be diagnosed in Australia in 2017 and 1,500 people will die from these cancers—equating to 6 diagnoses and 4 deaths daily.

An AIHW report released earlier this year revealed that survival rates for all cancers combined are higher than ever, but this is not the case for brain and other central nervous system cancers.

In the period from 2009 to 2013, people diagnosed with brain and other central nervous system cancers had a 25% chance of surviving 5 years compared to their counterparts in the general population, while 5-year survival was 68% for all cancers combined.

‘And while 5-year survival rates for all cancers improved 20 percentage points over the last 30 years, there have been no clear improvements for brain and other central nervous system cancers,’ said AIHW spokesperson Dr Lynelle Moon.

Today’s report also measures the impact of brain and other central nervous system cancers in terms of their health impact, or ‘burden’.

This measurement relates to the number of years of healthy life lost through living with an illness or injury (the non-fatal burden) and the number of years of life lost through dying prematurely from an illness or injury (the fatal burden).

Using data from 2011, the report reveals that the health burden of brain and other central nervous system cancers is significant, despite being relatively rare (representing just 1.5% of all cancers diagnosed).

‘Brain and other central nervous system cancers are the 17^th on the list of most commonly diagnosed cancers, but are 6^th when it comes to the causes of cancer burden,’ Dr Moon said.

‘And sadly, 96% of that burden is due to dying prematurely as a result of these cancers’.

Among children, this group of cancers is the second most common type to be diagnosed, and is the leading cause of cancer burden, with an even higher proportion attributed to early death (98%).

An AIHW report from earlier this year shows that cancer is the disease group with the most significant impact on our health, costing us more years of healthy life than any other.