Cancer among people living in rural and remote Indigenous communities in Queensland.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the pattern of cancer among people living in rural and remote Indigenous communities in Queensland and to consider what implications the results have for cancer control.


METHODS
Descriptive analysis of data on incidence and mortality from the population-based Queensland Cancer Registry for the years 1982-1996.


METHODS
Age-standardised incidence and mortality rates for different cancer sites.


RESULTS
The pattern of cancer was different from that found in the Queensland population as a whole. Of all the cancer sites, cervical cancer showed the biggest difference: the age-standardised incidence was 4.7 times the State average (95% CI, 3.2-6.6) and the mortality rate was 13.4 times the State average (95% CI, 7.8-21.4). Rates of lung cancer and other smoking-related cancers, although not as high as those for cervical cancer, were also significantly higher than the Queensland average, while rates for prostate and colorectal cancer were significantly lower.


CONCLUSIONS
The cancers that are over-represented among Indigenous people are amenable to preventive measures. The cancer burden among Indigenous people could be reduced by lowering the prevalence of smoking and improving participation in cervical cancer screening and follow-up of screening-detected abnormalities.
Coory
M
M
Epidemiology Services Unit, Queensland Health, Brisbane. michael_coory@health.qld.gov.au
Thompson
A
A
Ganguly
I
I
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D011793:Queensland; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000095283:Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples