Cancer prevalence in Austria
Cancer prevalence is - beside cancer incidence and cancer mortality - of particular interest in order to provide a comprehensive account of cancer in Austria. Information on cancer prevalence is of primary interest for health care planning and resource allocation because it identifies the burden of disease or health-related events on the population and health care system. However, the question “How many cancer patients are there in Austria?” is not only of public health, but also of much individual interest for people.
Cancer prevalence comprise new and pre-existing cases alive on a certain date or during a certain period, in contrast to incidence which reflects only new cases of a condition diagnosed during a given period of time. Cancer prevalence is calculated on the basis of registered cases in the Austrian cancer registry and a follow-up of their vital status. Hence, all persons diagnosed between 1983 and 2009 and alive on the reference day 31 December2009 have been included in the analysis. The follow-up period is 26 years.
The Austrian cancer registry contains 925 846 reported tumours (malignant invasive cases, incl. DCO-cases) in 772 441 persons diagnosed between 1983 and 2009. The difference between the number of tumours and persons is caused by multiple tumours. Of those 772 441 persons 284 281 were alive at the end of 2009, thereof 149 735 women and 134 546 men. This means that 3.4 out of 100 Austrians alive on the reference day have had a prior cancer diagnosis.
Currently 122 782 people live in Austria who had been diagnosed with cancer within the last five years. A notable increase in cancer prevalence is expected given the correlation between demographic ageing, generally increasing life expectancy and improved survival chances of individuals affected by cancer.
Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer localization (59 072) in women, followed by cancer of the uterus (20 734) and cancer of the colon (18 033). For men living with cancer, prostate cancer was the most frequent (51 218 cases) localization, followed by cancer of the colon (20 039) and the bladder (11 216).
Women affected by cancer survive past their diagnosis for a significantly longer average duration than men. This is mainly caused by breast cancer, which is not only the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women but also characterized by favourable survival chances. For 26% of the 134 546 men and 21% of the 149 735 women living with cancer at the end of 2009, the diagnosis is not older than three years. For these people there exists an acute need for medical care. Health related follow-up care is less intense for those who have been diagnosed three to five years back. This was the case for 23% of men (28 436 cases) and 18% of women (26 738) living with cancer.
For 22% of the men and 19% of women alive on the reference date, cancer has been diagnosed six to nine years ago. Most significant differences between the sexes can be observed for those diagnoses older than ten years. 31% (41 159 cases) of all men and 41% off all women affected by cancer (61 469) fall into this category.
Please consult our German website for tables and charts containing further information.
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