Cancer in Australia: What the Statistics Don’t Tell Us
By Eddie Enever
Cancer touches almost every Australian family in some way. The statistics make that clear. But numbers alone rarely capture what cancer actually is, how it develops, or what it demands of those who walk through it.
As both a cancer survivor and an integrative health practitioner, I’ve come to understand that while statistics can describe cancer at a population level, they often fail to explain the lived experience of it — or the deeper factors that shape outcomes. What matters most usually exists beyond the numbers: in biology, in environment, in psychology, and in the way people are supported before, during, and long after treatment.
This article brings together key Australian cancer data alongside clinical insight, not to alarm, but to add context — and to highlight why a more integrative, whole-person approach to cancer care matters.
Cancer is now one of the most common chronic conditions affecting Australians.
According to national data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Cancer Council Australia, around 43–50% of Australians will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85. The likelihood of diagnosis increases significantly with age, and cancer accounts for roughly 30% of all deaths nationwide.
In the year 2000, Australia recorded approximately 88,000 new cancer diagnoses. By 2025, that figure was estimated to rise to around 170,000 diagnoses per year. Population growth, longer life expectancy, and improved screening all play a role in this increase — but they don’t tell the whole story.
What these numbers don’t reflect is the complexity of cancer as a systemic disease, or the diversity of individual journeys that sit behind each diagnosis.
One of the more encouraging trends in Australian cancer data is improved survival. Around 71% of Australians diagnosed with cancer now survive at least five years, up from approximately 55% in the early 1990s. This represents real progress.
However, these headline figures can obscure important differences between cancer types.
Prostate cancer now carries a five-year survival rate of approximately 96%. Breast cancer sits around 93%. Colorectal cancer is closer to 72%. Lung cancer, despite being one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers, has a five-year survival rate of roughly 27%. Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most challenging, with survival rates around 14%.
Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related death in Australia, despite being only the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer. This gap between incidence and mortality highlights a critical truth: outcomes are shaped not just by detection and treatment, but by biology, timing, resilience, and the broader terrain in which cancer develops.
Another common misconception is that cancer is primarily genetic and therefore largely out of our control. In reality, only around 5–10% of cancers are caused by inherited genetic mutations. The vast majority involve acquired genetic changes that occur over time.
These changes are influenced by factors such as chronic inflammation, metabolic health, nutritional status, hormonal balance, environmental exposures, immune function, and nervous system stress.
From an integrative perspective, this is significant. Many of these factors are modifiable. While no approach can guarantee outcomes, addressing the underlying terrain in which cancer arises can reduce risk, improve treatment tolerance, and support long-term resilience.
Cancer, in this sense, is rarely just a genetic accident. It is often the final expression of long-standing biological and environmental pressures.
What the statistics also fail to capture is the psychological and emotional burden of cancer.
Research consistently shows high levels of distress among people living with cancer — and among those who have technically “finished” treatment. Fear of recurrence, anxiety, depression, identity disruption, and loss of trust in the body are common, yet often under-recognised.
Around half of cancer survivors experience significant fear of cancer returning. I know this firsthand. I used to call it “canxiety” — that constant background vigilance, waiting for the rug to be pulled again.
Modern oncology is understandably focused on tumours, treatments, and timelines. But when the emotional and nervous system impacts of cancer are not addressed, people are often left carrying the psychological aftermath alone.
Healing does not end when treatment does.
This is where integrative oncology has an important role to play.
Integrative oncology does not replace conventional cancer care. It works alongside it — supporting the person, not just the pathology.
Several years ago, I read a landmark study published in The New England Journal of Medicine that profoundly shaped how I think about cancer communication. The study found that 69% of patients with incurable lung cancer and 81% of those with incurable colorectal cancer did not understand that chemotherapy was unlikely to cure their disease.
This wasn’t about intelligence. It was about language, context, and the absence of truly informed conversations.
When people don’t understand the intent and limitations of treatment, it becomes difficult to make grounded decisions — or to explore supportive strategies that may improve quality of life, resilience, or outcomes alongside conventional care.
This insight led me to create resources such as Your Oncologist Is Not Your Enemy, which is designed to help patients communicate more effectively with their oncology team and feel empowered rather than passive.
In an integrative oncology consultation, my focus may include supporting nutritional status during and after treatment, addressing inflammation and metabolic stress, exploring the suitability of strategies such as press-pulse metabolic oncology alongside conventional care, supporting immune and gut health, and helping manage common side effects like fatigue, pain, sleep disturbance, and digestive symptoms.
As a psychotherapist, I also work deeply with the emotional and psychological experience of cancer — helping people process fear, grief, uncertainty, and the profound identity shifts that often accompany diagnosis and treatment. For many, understanding what cancer is asking of them — biologically and emotionally — becomes a powerful doorway to healing.
I do not approach this work only as a practitioner. I approach it as someone who has lived through cancer.
Surviving cancer reshapes how you relate to your body, your future, and your sense of self. It makes one thing very clear: outcomes are influenced by far more than scan results or treatment protocols alone.
Support matters.
Understanding matters.
Feeling informed, resourced, and seen matters.
Cancer is not just a medical event. It is a deeply human experience.
For those navigating a diagnosis — or supporting someone who is — I’ve created Beyond Prognosis, a free community platform designed to provide education, connection, and support beyond the clinic walls.
Because while statistics tell us that almost half of Australians will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85, they don’t tell us how any one individual journey will unfold.
What they don’t tell us is that you often have more influence than you realise — not over everything, but over far more than you may have been led to believe.
Appointments
If you would like to explore integrative and naturopathic support alongside your current cancer care, appointments can be made through Perth Natural Medical Clinic by calling 08 9328 9233 or booking online here.