Cancer survival rates are rising dramatically as screening improves and more treatments and drug trials are introduced, according to a new report.
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The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s report Cancer in Australia 2017 shows while cancer is still a major cause of illness and more cases are being diagnosed than ever before, death rates have continued to fall since the 1980s.
AIHW spokesperson Justin Harvey said survival rates had “improved substantially”, with five-year survival increasing from 48 per cent in the mid 1980s to 68 per cent in 2009 to 2013.
The report also estimated more than 130,000 people were expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year, increasing to about 150,000 diagnosed with cancer in 2020.
The rise in the number of new cases was linked to the ageing population, wider screening and improved diagnosis and testing.
The report said the cost to the health system was also on the rise with cancer-related hospitalisations increasing by 57 per cent in the past decade to 1.09 million hospitalisations a year in 2014 to 2015.
Lung cancer was expected to be the leading cause of cancer death in 2017, followed by bowel cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer in females and pancreatic cancer.
However the report noted that, according to World Health Organization comparisons, people living in Australia generally had better cancer survival than those living in other countries.
For Marjorie Serno, cancer is more than statistics. It is a reality she has had to live with since the start of last year when she was diagnosed with stage two ovarian cancer at just 47.
“It was sheer luck that when I had a cold that just didn’t go, I got checked for the cold and in passing I told the doctor I had to hold my stomach when I coughed and roll over in bed, and the doctor felt my stomach and sent me off for some ultrasounds,” Ms Serno said.
Six months of chemotherapy followed surgery and more than a year since diagnosis, Ms Serno is still living with many of the side effects.
During and after treatment, Ms Serno said her concentration and memory had become “really bad”, she suffered aches and pains, and often had the feeling of pins and needles in her hands and feet.
“It got to the point that I couldn’t even walk without holding or leaning against a wall,” she said.
“It was quite painful so at the moment I’m doing quite a lot of therapy on my days off to get back muscle strength.”
She has accepted her fine motor skills will never be 100 per cent and still finds it difficult to hold pegs when putting the washing on the line, grabbing a zip or a button and trying to click in earrings.
“You learn more as you go along, some of these things don’t get talked about because it is a negative and there is worry that people will not opt for treatment if they know about these side effects at the other end,” Ms Serno said.
“Everyone has different side effects they have to put up with, but in the long run most of us are just thankful that we are still here.
“It is a small price to pay.”
It has also been financially difficult not being able to work. Ms Serno is only now building up her hours after easing herself back into work last September.
And then there is the emotional toll.
She once thought cancer could be forgotten following treatment, but now believes it will always be in the back of her mind.
“It’s not always there, but every now and then it just pops up again,” she said.
“Every time you feel a bit off colour or you go through a body change you wonder if something is happening or if you have to worry about it.”