Cancer of the uterus is the most common form of gynaecological cancer among Australian women but ovarian cancer remains the deadliest. Nine per cent of all new cancers in females in 2008 were gynaecological, an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released on Tuesday reveals.
Of the 4534 gynaecological cancers diagnosed that year, uterine cancer was the most common, making up 44.5 per cent of all cases.
It was followed by ovarian cancer (28.1 per cent), cervical cancer (17.2 per cent), vulval cancer (6.2 per cent) and vaginal cancer (1.5 per cent).
When it comes to survival rates, some 82 per cent of women with uterine cancer are alive five years after diagnosis.
The cervical cancer five-year survival rate is 72 per cent.
For ovarian cancer, it's just 43 per cent, but that's much higher than in the mid-1980s, when it was only 32 per cent.
"While the survival rate for ovarian cancer has improved significantly in recent years it still remains low in comparison with other gynaecological cancers," Cancer Australia chief executive Helen Zorbas said in a statement.
"The reasons for this lower survival outcome include the relatively high proportion of ovarian cancers diagnosed at an advanced stage due to the non-specific nature of symptoms and the lack of an effective screening test."
Dr Zorbas said although survival rates were improving, four women still died each day from gynaecological cancer.
On average, 12 women are diagnosed with the disease each day in Australia.
Further information:
www.ovariancancer.net.au
www.aihw.gov.au
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