Notes on the data: Premature mortality by selected cause - 0 to 74 years

Deaths from pancreatic cancer, persons aged 0 to 74 years, 2018 to 2022

Policy context: Pancreatic cancer occurs when malignant cells develop in part of the pancreas, which may affect how the pancreas works, including the functioning of the exocrine or endocrine glands [1]. Pancreatic cancer is cancer that starts in any part of the pancreas, with approximately 70% of pancreatic cancers being found in the head of the pancreas [1]. Pancreatic cancer usually shows little or no symptoms until it has advanced and spread, therefore up to 80% of cases are diagnosed at later, more difficult-to-treat stages [2].

The number of Australians diagnosed with pancreatic cancer has more than tripled over the last forty years, which has initiated investment by the federal government to create a coordinated approach to improve outcomes and survival for Australian affected by the disease [3].

For 2018 to 2022, almost half (49.7%) of deaths from pancreatic cancer were premature, with 53.8% for males and 45.1% for females – these and other details are available here.

References

Cancer Council. Types of pancreatic cancer. Available from: https://cancer.org.au/cancer-information/types-of-cancer/pancreatic-cancer; last accessed: 29 August 2024.
He, J. Pancreatic Cancer Prognosis. John Hopkins Medicine. Available from: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/pancreatic-cancer/pancreatic-cancer-prognosis#:~:text=The%20earlier%20pancreatic%20cancer%20is,difficult%2Dto%2Dtreat%20stages; last accessed: 30 August 2024.
Department of Health and Aged Care. New hope for Australians affected by pancreatic cancer. Available from: https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/new-hope-for-australians-affected-by-pancreatic-cancer; last accessed: 30 August 2024.

Notes: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes: C25

For detailed data files released since 2007, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has applied a staged approach to the coding of cause of death which affects the number of records available for release at any date. In general, the latest year’s data are designated preliminary, the second latest as revised and the data for the remaining years as final. For further information about the ABS revisions process see the following and related sites: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3303.0Explanatory+Notes12012.

Data published here are from the following releases: 2018, 2019 and 2020, final; and 2021 and 2022, preliminary.

Geography: Data available by Population Health Area, Local Government Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic disadvantage of area and Quintiles within PHNs, and Remoteness Area

Numerator: Deaths from pancreatic cancer at ages 0 to 74 years

Denominator: Population aged 0 to 74 years

Detail of analysis: Average annual indirectly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population (aged 0 to 74 years); and/or indirectly age-standardised ratio, based on the Australian standard.

Source: Data compiled by PHIDU from deaths data based on the 2018 to 2022 Cause of Death Unit Record Files supplied by the Australian Coordinating Registry and the Victorian Department of Justice, on behalf of the Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the National Coronial Information System. The population is the average of the ABS Estimated Resident Population (ERP) for Australia, 30 June 2018 to 30 June 2022.