Cancer-related death rates among Australian adolescents and young adults have more than halved over the past few decades, although the number of new cases grew.
For Australians aged 15-24 cancer-related deaths dropped from 62 to 29 deaths per million of the population, according to a Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report published on Wednesday.
AIHW spokesman Justin Harvey says cancer is rare in young people and for most types of cancer, survival rates are high but diagnosis can have far-reaching consequences.
"Between 1984-1988 and 2014-2018, the five-year relative survival for all cancers combined in people aged 15-24 gradually increased from 79 per cent to 90 per cent," he said, crediting earlier diagnosis and improved cancer treatments over time.
Despite survival rates increasing, the report also showed the number of new cases of cancer diagnosed in young Australians has grown over time.
New cases increased from around 3800 in 1984-1988 to 5300 in 2014-2018.
The trend reflects the increasing number of 15-24 year olds in the population and incidence rates remain relatively unchanged, Mr Harvey added.
Although cancers in the age group are uncommon, the disease is responsible for eight per cent of fatal burden (or years of life lost) and accounted for 7.7 per cent of all deaths in 2021.
In 2016-2020, 458 people aged 15-24 died due to cancer.
"This means that on average, a young person died from cancer every four days in Australia," Mr Harvey said.
Mortality rates have consistently been higher for males than females, however the gap has narrowed over time.
"While both males and females have experienced a decrease in mortality rates since 1981-1985, the decline has been greater for males," he said.
In 2013-2017, more than half (56 per cent) of cancer-related deaths were among males.
Bone cancer, soft-tissue sarcomas and central nervous system cancers accounted for almost half (48 per cent) of all cancer-related deaths of people aged 15-24 between 2013-2017.
Among adolescents and young adults in 2014-2018, the three most commonly diagnosed cancers were Hodgkin lymphoma (13 per cent), melanoma (12 per cent) and testicular germ cell cancers (12 per cent).
Although incidence rates were high, all three types of cancer had a five-year relative survival rate of 97 per cent or higher.
Significantly, melanoma rates within the age group dropped from 106 to 42 cases per million between 1994-1998 and 2014-2018.
"This strong decline is likely due to prevention campaigns about sun safety behaviours and increased community awareness," Mr Harvey said.
Young cancer survivors are almost twice as likely as the general population to develop a second primary cancer.
Of the 31,246 people diagnosed with cancer when aged 15-24 since 1984, 1009 second cancers were diagnosed.
