New research shows Australia and New Zealand have among the highest rate of breath cancer detections in the world but the death rate has also declined.
Breast cancer is caused by abnormal and uncontrollable growth of cells that line the breast lobules or ducts. These abnormal growths can spread to other organs in the body.
Despite this increased detection of breast cancer, death rates in Australia from the condition have declined dramatically in the last 10 years.
In 2022, around 3,300 breast cancer deaths in Australia were recorded out of 21,000 people who were diagnosed, according to the data.
The study showed Australia and New Zealand had lowered their breast cancer death rate by 2.1 percent per year. This is slightly below the World Health Organisation’s target of 2.5 percent reduction per year. Seven countries—Malta, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Lithuania, Netherlands, and Slovenia—met this target.
University of Sydney Professor of Public Health Professor Nehmat Houssami said the study showed Australia had achieved sustained reductions in death rates across the last decade.
“However, in 2022, Australia (and New Zealand) had the highest incidence rates of breast cancer globally,” Houssami said.
In an attempt to explain the elevated rate of breast cancer diagnosis in the two countries, Houssami suggested alcohol, age and obesity could all be factors at play.
“There are various reasons for this related to the population structure (e.g. ageing) and risk factor profile (breast cancer risk factors that women may be less aware of include alcohol consumption, low physical activity, and post-menopausal obesity) so we need to improve support for women to reduce these potentially modifiable risk factors,” Houssami said.
Houssami, who was one of the authors on the paper, noted less affluent countries with underdeveloped health systems had higher mortality than developed countries.
She said the Nature study highlighted the worldwide “substantial burden” of breast cancer by analysing incidence and deaths data from 185 countries.
“[It is the] most or second most common female cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths in females in the majority of nations,” Houssami said.
“However, this burden is not spread equally across countries and regions, there are large variations in incidence rates and more concerning are the disparities in breast cancer mortality.”
She noted women with breast cancer in low to middle income countries were more likely to die than those in richer nations.
“These disparities in breast cancer deaths are not new but have become more evident (in the current analysis) and are predicted to further widen in the future (projected to 2050) flagging an urgent need for governments, especially in low-middle income countries, to invest in providing access to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment services.”
Globally, in 2022, there were 2.3 million new cases of breast cancer and 670,000 deaths, the researchers found.
Half of the countries showed a 1 to 5 percent increase in mortality rates, while 29 countries showed a lower death rate.
“We investigated the current (2022) and future (2050) global burden of female breast cancer overall, and by age group, in 185 countries using the GLOBOCAN database, and 10-year trends in incidence and mortality rates in 50 and 46 countries, respectively, using the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents plus and World Health Organization mortality databases,” researched said.
“By 2050, new cases and deaths will have increased by 38 percent and 68 percent, respectively, disproportionately impacting low-Human Development Index countries.”
The researchers suggested continued early diagnosis and access to treatment were needed in those countries with a low and medium Human Development Index.
More than 20,000 Diagnosed in 2024, Cancer Council
Meanwhile, Cancer Council estimates 20,973 people received a breast cancer diagnosis in Australia in 2024, with an average age of 62-years-old.According to their figures, one in eight women and one in 667 men is likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85.
The Cancer Council states that breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women in Australia, apart from non-melanoma skin cancer.
After lung cancer, breast cancer is also the second highest likely cancer to lead to death in women.
Tests for diagnosing breast cancer include physical examination by a doctor, a mammogram, ultrasound, biopsy and other scans.
