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CANCER (C00-D48)

In 2008, Cancer (C00-D48) was the underlying cause of 42,418 registered deaths in Australia. This accounted for 30% of all registered deaths. The ratio of male (23,908) to female (18,510) deaths in 2008 remained steady at 129 males per 100 females. The median age of persons dying from Malignant cancers (C00-C97) has continued to rise from 73.2 years in 1999 to 75.2 years in 2008. Deaths due to Malignant cancers accounted for 41,341 deaths or 97% of all cancers in 2008.

Cancers of the digestive organs (C15-C26) accounted for 11,654 deaths. Of these, Colon cancer (C18) constituted the largest number of deaths with 2,481. The median age at death for people dying of colon cancer was 74.6 years for males and 78.1 years for females, with the largest number of deaths occurring between 75 and 84 years of age for both males and females.

Pancreatic cancer (C25) was the second highest contributor to deaths from Cancers of the digestive organs, accounting for 2,291 deaths. There was a small difference between the number of males (1,192) and females (1,099) with Pancreatic cancer as the underlying cause of death, however, the median age of males dying of Pancreatic cancer (72.3) was lower than for females (77.8) dying of the same cause.

There were 8,262 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 7,941 (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 216.7 male deaths per 100 females in 1999 to 171.9 male deaths per 100 females in 2008. However, since 1999 the number of female deaths from this cause has increased by 775 while the number of male deaths has increased by 370. Males whose underlying cause of death was Lung cancer, had a marginally lower median age at death (73.7 years) than females (73.8 years) with the same underlying cause.

Prostate cancer (C61) was the underlying cause of 4.1% of all male deaths registered in 2008. Male deaths with this underlying cause have increased gradually from 2,499 in 1999 to 3,031 in 2008. The median age at death for Prostate cancer was 81.0 years. This was close to the median age for all deaths (80.9 years) and continues to follow the steady upward trend from 78.8 years in 1999.

In females, deaths due to Breast cancer (C50) have risen from 2,505 in 1999 to 2,774 in 2008. The 2008 figure is the highest in the past decade, 55 more than in 2005, the second highest in the past decade, when 2,719 females deaths due to Breast cancer were recorded. The female median age at death due to Breast cancer was 68.1 years, 2.9 years lower than males (71.0 years) and 15.8 years lower than the median age for all female deaths (83.9 years).

4.2 SELECTED UNDERLYING CAUSES(a), Cancer (C00-D48) - 2008(b)(c)(d)
				Males	Females	Persons	Proportion of all deaths
Cause of Death and ICD Code				no.	no.	no.	%
CHAPTER II Neoplasms (C00-D48)				23 908	18 510	42 418	29.5
	Malignant neoplasms (C00-C97)			23 340	18 001	41 341	28.7
		Malignant neoplasms of lip, oral cavity and pharynx (C00-C14)		476	199	675	0.5
			Malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified parts of tongue (C02)	106	50	156	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified parts of mouth (C06)	33	23	56	-
			Malignant neoplasm of parotid gland (C07)	55	18	73	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of tonsil (C09)	44	14	58	-
			Malignant neoplasm of oropharynx (C10)	35	15	50	-
			Malignant neoplasm of nasopharynx (C11)	41	18	59	-
			Malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites in the lip, oral cavity and pharynx (C14)	65	14	79	0.1
		Malignant neoplasms of digestive organs (C15-C26)		6 588	5 066	11 654	8.1
			Malignant neoplasm of oesophagus (C15)	841	368	1 209	0.8
			Malignant neoplasm of stomach (C16)	717	428	1 145	0.8
			Malignant neoplasm of small intestine (C17)	53	47	100	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of colon (C18)	1 270	1 211	2 481	1.7
			Malignant neoplasm of rectosigmoid junction (C19)	462	354	816	0.6
			Malignant neoplasm of rectum (C20) '	469	291	760	0.5
			Malignant neoplasm of anus and anal canal (C21)	29	34	63	-
			Malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (C22)	797	416	1 213	0.8
			Malignant neoplasm of gallbladder (C23)	63	128	191	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified parts of biliary tract (C24)	43	45	88	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of pancreas (C25)	1 192	1 099	2 291	1.6
			Malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined digestive organs (C26)	652	645	1 297	0.9
		Malignant neoplasms of respiratory and intrathoracic organs (C30-C39)		5 275	2 987	8 262	5.7
			Malignant neoplasm of larynx (C32)	203	34	237	0.2
			Malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung (C34)	5 020	2 921	7 941	5.5
		Malignant neoplasms of bone and articular cartilage (C40-C41)		59	45	104	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage of other and unspecified sites (C41)	55	39	94	0.1
		Melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin (C43-C44)		1 244	613	1 857	1.3
			Malignant melanoma of skin (C43)	965	472	1 437	1.0
			Other malignant neoplasms of skin (C44)	279	141	420	0.3
		Malignant neoplasms of mesothelial and soft tissue (C45-C49)		637	312	949	0.7
			Mesothelioma (C45)	504	124	628	0.4
			Malignant neoplasm of retroperitoneum and peritoneum (C48)	16	77	93	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of other connective and soft tissue (C49)	109	108	217	0.2
			Malignant neoplasm of breast (C50)	14	2 774	2 788	1.9
		Malignant neoplasms of female genital organs (C51-C58)		-	1 599	1 599	1.1
			Malignant neoplasm of vulva (C51)	-	72	72	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri (C53)	-	234	234	0.2
			Malignant neoplasm of corpus uteri (C54)	-	219	219	0.2
			Malignant neoplasm of uterus, part unspecified (C55)	-	130	130	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of ovary (C56)	-	899	899	0.6
		Malignant neoplasms of male genital organs (C60-C63)		3 053	-	3 053	2.1
			Malignant neoplasm of prostate (C61)	3 031	-	3 031	2.1
		Malignant neoplasms of urinary tract (C64-C68)		1 240	644	1 884	1.3
			Malignant neoplasm of kidney, except renal pelvis (C64)	528	320	848	0.6
			Malignant neoplasm of bladder (C67)	662	288	950	0.7
		Malignant neoplasms of eye, brain and other parts of central nervous system (C69-C72)		729	504	1 233	0.9
			Malignant neoplasm of brain (C71)	710	484	1 194	0.8
		Malignant neoplasms of thyroid and other endocrine glands (C73-C75)		72	89	161	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm of thyroid gland (C73)	45	60	105	0.1
		Malignant neoplasms of ill-defined, secondary and unspecified sites (C76-C80)		1 307	1 251	2 558	1.8
			Malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites (C76)	100	105	205	0.1
			Malignant neoplasm without specification of site (C81)	1 207	1 146	2 353	1.6
		Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (C81-C96)		2 220	1 669	3 889	2.7
			Hodgkin's disease (C81)	26	30	56	-
			Diffuse non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (C83)	121	73	194	0.1
			Peripheral and cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (C84)	66	31	97	0.1
			Other and unspecified types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (C85)	583	509	1 092	0.8
			Multiple myeloma and malignant plasma cell neoplasms (C90)	487	376	863	0.6
			Lymphoid leukaemia (C91)	272	151	423	0.3
			Myeloid leukaemia (C92)	543	390	933	0.6
			Leukaemia of unspecified cell type (C95)	67	63	130	0.1
			Malignant neoplasms of independent (primary) multiple sites (C97)	426	249	675	0.5
Other Neoplasms (D00-D48)				568	509	1 077	0.7
	Benign neoplasms (D10-D36)			52	73	125	0.1
		Benign neoplasm of meninges (D32)		30	47	77	0.1
	Neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behaviour (D37-D48)			516	435	951	0.7
		Neoplasm of uncertain or unknown behaviour of oral cavity and digestive organs (D37)		34	37	71	-
		Neoplasm of uncertain or unknown behaviour of brain and central nervous system (D43)		74	82	156	0.1
		Myelodysplastic syndromes (D46)		256	172	428	0.3
		Other neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behaviour of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (D47)		96	71	167	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) 2008 data have been subject to process improvements which have increased the quality of these data. See Technical Note 1: 2008 COD Collection - Process Improvements for further information.
(c) Causes of death data for 2008 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process.
(d) 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. Cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation.