NSW: Maps released showing cancer incidence

AAP General News (Australia)
04-19-1999
NSW: Maps released showing cancer incidence

SYDNEY, April 19 AAP - Men living in far-western New South Wales who smoke and drink
excessively are at a high risk of developing head or neck cancer, the NSW Cancer Council said
today.

The council has released so-called cancer maps for the state, which show the patterns of
incidence rates throughout NSW for 19 different cancers.

The maps show the risk of males in far western NSW developing head or neck cancer is much
higher than the state average.

Council research coordinator David Smith said the highest incidence rate for males was in
the western half of the state, while the rate fell closer to the coast.

"One that we didn't really expect is head and neck cancers in males and it is very high in
the far west of the state, specifically in Bourke, Broken Hill and Wentworth," Mr Smith said.

"All were significantly higher than the state average."

Men living in the Sydney and south Sydney local government areas also faced a high risk of
developing that type of cancer.

The council said the main causes of head and neck cancer are tobacco and alcohol
consumption and the risk is reduced by a diet high in vegetables and fruit.

Environmental and behavioural factors such as smoking and sun exposure, and socio-economic
status, have been linked to specific types of cancer.

Breast cancer, melanoma and prostate cancer rates are greater in higher socio-economic
areas, while lung cancer and cervical cancer are higher in lower socio-economic areas.

Melanoma rates are highest along the north coast and increase closer to the Queensland
border. In Tweed on the NSW far north coast the rate of melanoma in males is 84 per cent above
the state average.

Melanoma rates drop the further from the coast, and are most prevalent in high
socio-economic areas due to greater access to sun-related recreation.

"Sun exposure is the main cause of melanoma," said director of cancer research and
registers at the NSW Cancer Council, Professor Bruce Armstrong.

"People born outside Australia and people with pigmented skin are at lower risk of
melanoma. It is likely that the populations further north and nearer the coast may have
greater exposure to the sun, fairer skin and are more likely to have been born in Australia."

Smoking, the main cause of lung cancer, is highest amongst males in low socio-economic
areas of central and western Sydney and west of the North Central Plain.

Pancreatic cancer, also caused by cigarette smoke, is highest in western NSW and in the
inner west and eastern suburbs of Sydney.

Cervical cancer, higher in low socio-economic areas, is more concentrated in the north-east
and south-west of the state, and in central and western Sydney.

Sydney has the state's highest rate of breast cancer, with the highest rates occurring in
the higher socio-economic areas of Woollahra, Lane Cove and Ku-ring-gai.

Mr Smith said a richer diet, women having children at a later age, and breast cancer test
frequency contributed to these high rates.

"The period we looked at coincided with the introduction of the breast-screening program
for NSW, and in those areas there's more access to services for higher socio-economic status
women," Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith also believes the high rate of prostate cancers on Sydney's north shore is due to
early detection.

"Men from high socio-economic areas are having more prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests
than men from lower socio-economic areas," he said.

AAP ji/sb/was

KEYWORD: CANCER NSW

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