Terry Slevin, Chair, Skin Cancer Committee, Cancer Council Australia

February 2012

We have known for more than 30 years that excessive sun exposure increases skin cancer risk.

Research published in 1999 showed that systematic use of sunscreen in an adult Queensland population (the “Nambour study”) reduced the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of the disease, by about 40% and in 2003 they showed sunscreen use retarded the growth of solar keratosis. An analysis published in 2011 after longer follow-up of the same study population found sunscreen use helped prevent melanoma.

For more information, click here.

Professor Ian Olver, Chief Executive Officer Cancer Council Australia

January 2012

This month’s Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) includes two sides of the argument that the benefits of BreastScreen outweigh the problems. Monash University breast cancer researchers Robin Bell and Robert Burton argue that although breast cancer mortality had decreased by 29% since BreastScreen was introduced in 1991, data indicates that cancer therapies, not screening programs, are responsible for most of this improvement.

In our MJA editorial, David Roder, a senior public health advisor with Cancer Australia, and I argue that BreastScreen has played a significant role in reducing mortality.

For more information, click here.

December 2011

News stories linking a brand of silicone breast implant to cancer may be creating unwarranted alarm among women who have had implants.

According to media reports, the French government plans to recommend to 30,000 French women that they remove silicone implants supplied by the now defunct company, Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP). The advice follows reports that eight women who have the implants have been diagnosed with cancer, mainly breast cancer.

For more information, click here.

Associate Professor Karen Canfell, Cancer Council Epidemiology Research Unit, NSW
Kate Broun, Cancer Council Screening Program, Victoria

June 2011

A new study on the impact of the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer, the first worldwide to look at participants in a vaccination program (beyond clinical trials) was published today (17 June 2011) in The Lancet.

HPV vaccination in young women in Australia commenced in 2007. The HPV Vaccination Program provides free vaccination for 12-13 year-olds. Between 2007 and 2009 a catch-up program for women up to the age of 26 years was also conducted.

For more infromation click here.

Professor Ian Olver, Chief Executive Officer Cancer Council Australia

This opinion piece was published in The Conversation on 24 May 2011.

May 2011

The question of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing for prostate cancer is not whether any individual has ever benefited from a PSA test, to which the answer is yes. The question is whether a PSA test should be recommended for all men in a population screening program, to which the answer is clearly no.

For more information click here.

 

Paul Grogan, Director Advocacy, Cancer Council Australia

This opinion piece was published in The Punch on 18 May 2011.

May 2011

When Cancer Council Australia published its recent estimate of the number of cancer cases in Australia linked to alcohol consumption, we didn’t expect the message to be popular.

But we have a responsibility to provide independent, evidence-based information about cancer risk, enabling Australians to make informed choices.

Many people may not want to know that something as popular as alcohol consumption increases their cancer risk – but that’s what the evidence says. And we believe everyone has a right to know about that evidence, whether it’s a “good news” story or not.

For more information click here.

 April 2011

 Plain packaging for tobacco products has the potential to be one of the most important policy measures in Australian history for reducing cancer deaths from smoking.

Cancer Council research along with documents obtained from the tobacco industry show the pack is an important marketing tool, particularly for attracting new smokers – usually young people. Sceptics claimed the TV and radio ad bans in the 1970s would not work either, but their implementation coincided with a substantial drop in smoking rates. We expect to see a similar reduction after plain packets are phased in; so, apparently, does the tobacco industry.

For more information click here.

March 2011

Media reports about the levels of exposure and potential danger are conflicting, ranging from claims that there is little to worry about to dire predictions of mass radiation poisoning and increases in cancer diagnoses.

 

For more information click here.

December 2010

Groundbreaking research, conducted in Australia and published this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, has demonstrated for the first time that regular sunscreen use can prevent the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma.

For more information, click here.

October 2010

Cancer Council Australia has received a number of inquiries about prayer and cancer following media coverage of claims that prayers to the late Sister Mary MacKillop, soon to be canonised as a Catholic saint, led to spontaneous remission in two terminal cancer patients.

For more information, click here.

May 2010

The world’s largest study to date on mobile phone use and cancer risk, Interphone, has been announced and media have been attempting, with some difficulty, to interpret the significance of the findings.

For more information, click here.

May 2010

A study in The Lancet has shown that a one-off sigmoidoscopy screening test between the ages of 55 and 64 years may reduce bowel (colorectal) cancer mortality by up to 43% in those screened and incidence by one third.

The results suggest a single examination with a flexible sigmoidoscope in people between 55 and 64 years may significantly reduce bowel cancer incidence and mortality. Other trials are underway in the US and Italy, which will demonstrate whether this result can be confirmed.

For more information, click here.

April 2010

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that use of multivitamins is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

This study found only a modestly increased risk in those who were taking multivitamin supplements, compared to those who did not take multivitamin supplements.

For more information, click here.

April 2010

A new study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has looked at whether fruit and vegetables are protective against cancers. The study found only a “weakly protective effect” against cancer.

Fruit and vegetables are high in nutrients that are potentially protective against cancer. They also play an important role in weight management.

For more information, click here.

March 2010

A US court ruling that patents should never have been granted for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations linked to breast and ovarian cancer reinforces Cancer Council Australia’s call for gene patenting reform in Australia.

The judge’s finding that biological materials in an isolated form are discoveries, not inventions, and therefore should not be patented clarifies the ambiguity that has clouded the gene patenting debate. Cancer Council and other non-profit healthcare and research groups have long held the view that natural biological materials should be freely available for research and non-commercial public health purposes.

For more information, click here.

August 2009

Cancer Council Australia appeared at the Senate inquiry hearings into gene patents on 5 Aug 2009.

The crucial issue of gene patenting needs to be addressed in order to ensure equitable health systems for future generations, and research knowledge banks that will facilitate cures and treatments for cancer.

For more information, click here.

March 2010

A Danish study, published in the British Medical Journal (24 March), suggests that national breast screening programs provide no benefit in terms of lives saved.

While the Danish study will spark debate amongst experts, a recent evaluation of Australia’s breast cancer screening program has found that free mammograms have reduced mortality from breast cancer among women in the target age group of 50–69 years by 21–28%.

For more information, please click here.

March 2010

Recent media reports indicate that there may be an overuse of CT scans in Australia.

For more information, click here.

March 2010

A new study from the United Kingdom has suggested that rather than increase cancer risk, the contraceptive pill may actually reduce it, and contribute to increased lifespan.

For more information, click here.

March 2010

The sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation is both the major cause of skin cancer and the best source of vitamin D – which is needed to maintain good health and to keep bones and muscles strong and healthy.

In Australia, we need to balance the risk of skin cancer from too much sun exposure, with maintaining adequate vitamin D levels. Cancer Council recommends limited exposure to the sun outside of peak UV times in order to boost vitamin D.

For more information, please click here.

January 2010

Bowel cancer kills more than 4000 Australians every year, yet nearly all cases can be cured if found early. Cancer Council Australia strongly supports the national Bowel Cancer Screening Program and is campaigning for its expansion to cover all Australians 50 and over.

For more information, click here

December 2009

Nanotechnology has been used in sunscreens for many years. To date, our assessment, drawing on the best available evidence, is that nanoparticulates used in sunscreens do not pose a risk. However, we continue to monitor research and welcome any new research that sheds more light on this topic.

For more information, click here