NEW ZEALAND HEALTH INFORMATION SERVICE
Cancer: New Registrations and Deaths 2004
Annual statistical publication that collates and analyses data on primary malignant tumour cases diagnosed in New Zealand, as reported to the New Zealand Cancer Register.
The NZ Cancer Registry has operated since 1948 and is a population-based tumour register of all primary malignant disease. (Basal and squamous cancers arising in the skin are not required to be reported, except for those of the genitalia.)
The major sources of new registrations are copies of laboratory reports, post-discharge reports from publicly funded hospitals, death certificates and autopsy reports, and discharge reports from private hospitals.
The data collected includes information on the site, stage and pathology of the cancer, as well as demographic information (eg, ethnicity, age, sex, domicile). The data is collected under the Cancer Registry Act 1993 and the Cancer Registry Regulations 1994.
The publication highlights the following facts:
Registrations
- In 2004, there were 19,223 new registrations for cancer in New Zealand. The number of registrations has increased by 3.4 percent from 2003 and 21.2 percent from 1995.
- The age-standardised rate for new cancer registrations was 319.6 per 100,000 population.
- There were 10,143 male and 9080 female new registrations in 2004. The male age-standardised registration rate (355.5 per 100,000 males) exceeded the female rate (291.4 per 100,000 females).
- In 2004 there were 8145 recorded deaths from cancer in New Zealand. Deaths from cancer have increased by 1.5 percent from 2003 and 9.7 percent from 1995.
- The age-standardised rate of death from cancer was 120.8 per 100,000 population in 2004.
- The most commonly registered cancer in 2004 was cancer of the colorectum and anus (2735 new cases), followed closely by cancer of the prostate (2693 cases).
- The leading cause of death from cancer in 2004 was cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung (1555 deaths), followed by cancer of the colorectum and anus (1173 deaths).
- Among males, prostate cancer was the most commonly registered cancer (2693 cases, just under 27 percent of male registrations), with an age-standardised rate of 94.6 registrations per 100,000 males.
- Cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung was the leading cause of death among males in 2004 (929 deaths, just under 22 percent of male cancer deaths), with an age-standardised mortality rate of 30.8 per 100,000 males.
- Among females, breast cancer was the most commonly registered cancer (2339 cases, nearly 26 percent of all female registrations), with an age-standardised rate of 81.7 cases per 100,000 females.
- Breast cancer was also the leading cause of death among females (642 deaths, just over 16 percent of female cancer deaths), with an age-standardised mortality rate of 20.2 per 100,000 females.
- The age-specific rates for cancer registrations were considerably higher in the older age groups in 2004 (20.1 per 100,000 people aged under 25, compared with 373.5 for people aged from 25 to 64 years and 2277.2 for people aged 65 years and over).
- The most common types of cancer vary with age—leukaemia among children and youth; malignant melanoma of the skin among 25–44 year-old males; breast cancer among 25–44 year-old females; prostate cancer among males 45 years and older; and cancer of the breast among females 45 years and older.
- For Māori, in 2004, there were 1364 cancer registrations (645 males and 719 females) and 767 deaths (372 males and 395 females) from cancer. The Māori age-standardised rate of cancer registrations in 2004 (332.8 per 100,000 population) was similar to the non-Māori rate (319.1).
- The age-standardised rate for Māori deaths from cancer (193.9 per 100,000 population) was higher than the non-Māori rate (114.3).
- The most commonly registered cancer among Māori males was cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung, with an age-standardised rate of 79.5 per 100,000, over twice that of the non-Māori male rate (32.7). It was also far more common among Māori females than non-Māori females, with an age-standardised rate of 63.9 per 100,000, over three times that of the non-Māori female rate (19.7).
- While cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung was the leading cause of cancer deaths for both Māori and non-Māori males, the Māori male rate of 68.0 per 100,000 was more than two-and-a-half times higher than the non-Māori male rate (28.1).
- Cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung was the leading cause of death among Māori females (but not non-Māori females), and the age-standardised rate for Māori females (69.6 per 100,000 females) was nearly four-and-a-half times that of the non-Māori female rate (16.1).
The statistical tables accompanying in this publication can be downloaded as an (Excel, 748 KB)
The publication can be downloaded as a (PDF, 660 KB). It should be read in conjunction the Cancer 2004 Errata (PDF, 80 KB), which replaces Table A-4.
Please note: the printed publication has an incorrect ISBN number. The error has been corrected in this download file and in the ISBN details below.
Note that this issue of Cancer: New Registrations and Deaths does not contain a full set of tables. For tables of, eg, detailed sites, the Excel file must be obtained.
To order a printed copy of this publication, e-mail nzhis-pub@moh.govt.nz or contact the Publications Officer, NZHIS, PO Box 5013, Wellington, phone (04) 496 2000, fax (04) 496 2340.
Published 2007
112 pages, A4
A limited number of hardcopy publications are available free of charge
ISBN 978-0-478-30785-6 (print), ISBN 978-0-478-30787-0 (online)
The 2003 (PDF, 1 MB), 2002(PDF, 2 MB) and 2002 Errata (PDF, 181 KB), 2001 (PDF, 599 KB), 2000 (PDF, 490 KB), 1999 (PDF, 951 KB), 1998 (PDF, 423 KB), 1997 (PDF, 762 KB), 1996 (PDF, 729 KB) and 1995 (PDF, 667 KB) issues of this publication are also available. They each contain a full set of tables.