Cancer screening

Introduction

Cancer screening programs contribute to reduced cancer morbidity and mortality. This section presents cancer screening participation rates by sociodemographic characteristics including remoteness¹ and the area-based index of relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage.²

Latest results

Breast cancer screening

In the 2-year screening recruitment period 2022–2023, 391,000 females participated in BreastScreen Queensland (BSQ). This equates to overall participation rates of (Figure 1):

• 34.6% for all females eligible for screening 40 years and older
• 50.7% for all females 50 to 74 years actively invited to screening
• 19.5% in younger eligible females 40 to 49 years.

In the group actively invited to screen, the highest participation was in females 65 to 69 years (55.2%) and lowest in females 50 to 54 years (46.5%).³

Remoteness and socioeconomic differences

In 2022–2023, BreastScreen participation in Queensland was 22.9% higher in outer regional areas than in remote and very remote areas (56.4% and 45.9%, respectively).

Cancer detection

The majority of females screened by BSQ will be notified that no signs of cancer were detected. In 2023, however:

• A total of 1,256 breast cancers were detected by BSQ
• Detection rates overall were 59 per 10,000 females screened
• Detection rates were higher in first time participants (84 per 10,000 females screened) compared to those having a second or subsequent screens (56 per 10,000 females screened).

Trends and national comparisons

Trends in BreastScreen participation rates have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2014–2015 to 2022–2023, breast cancer screening participation rates decreased 10.3% in Queensland (56.5 in 2014–2015 to 50.7% in 2022–2023) with the greatest decline in participation rates between 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. Over the same period Australian participation rates decreased 3.9%—from a high of 54.5% in 2016–2017 to a low of 47% in 2020–2021 primarily due to lockdowns that closed BreastScreen services in New South Wales and Victoria but participation rates nationally have subsequently recovered (Figure 1).

Cervical screening

Trends for cervical screening are not available due to the change to 5-year screening intervals from 2017.

Participation

In the five year recruitment period 2019–2023, 876,000 females participated in the cervical screening program. This equates to overall participation rates of (Figure 2):

• 62.3% for all females eligible for screening 25 to 74 years⁴
• 76.1% in young females 25 to 29 years who had the highest participation rate
• 38.5% females 70 to 74 years who had the lowest participation rate.

Remoteness and socioeconomic differences

In the five year recruitment period 2019–2023, participation rates for cervical screening in Queensland varied by remoteness and socioeconomic status (Figure 2):

• In major cities the participation rate was 15.3% higher than in remote areas (63.4% and 55%, respectively).
• In the most advantaged areas, the participation rate was 25.8% higher than in the most disadvantaged areas (69.8% and 55.5% percent respectively).

Human Papillomavirus and cancer detection

In Queensland, 7.3% of those screened for any HPV (Screening Oncogenic HPV) returned a positive result in 2023. Nationally, the rate of cervical cancer detected by histology in 2023 was 1-in-2,000 screened among those 25 to 74 years.

Bowel cancer screening

In the 2022–2023 period in Queensland, around 496,000 Queenslanders 50 to 74 years returned a bowel cancer screening kit based on provisional reporting. This equates to an overall participation rate of 38.8% for 2022–2023.⁵

Bowel cancer screening participation rates increase with age and are higher for females than males. In Queensland, the 2022–2023 participation rates were (Figure 3):

• 28.9% for adults 50 to 54 years
• 50.3% for adults 70 to 74 years
• 40.0% for females and 36.0% for males in the 50 to 74 years age group.

Remoteness and socioeconomic differences

In the two year period 2022–2023, participation rates for bowel cancer screening in Queensland varied by remoteness and by socioeconomic status (Figure 4):

• In major cities, the participation rate was 67.6% higher than in very remote areas (39.9% and 23.8%, respectively).
• In the most advantaged areas, the participation rate was 23.4% higher than in the most disadvantaged areas (41.7% and 33.8%, respectively).

Bowel cancer screening positivity

The percentage of positive results for bowel screening (iFOBT positivity) for Queensland adults 50 to 74 years was 5.8% in 2022 (11,944 positives from 206,206 screens). This result is similar to the Australian iFOBT positivity of 5.7% for 2022 (64,932 positives from 1,129,914 screenings).

Of those with a positive bowel screening result in 2022, the proportion with a follow-up colonoscopy was slightly higher in Queensland (88.7%) than it was nationally (85.9%) for those 50 to 74 years. Of those, the percentage receiving a colonoscopy within the recommended 120 days was 72.7% in Queensland, compared with 71.0% nationally.

Trends and national comparisons

The 2022–2023 bowel cancer screening participation rate for Queenslanders (38.8%) was lower than the national rate of 41.7% (Figure 3). Overall current Queensland and National participation rates have been are broadly similar to the rates in 2014–2015, however, participation rates were increasing before the COVID-19 pandemic and have since fallen. The gap between participation rates in Queensland and Australia has increased in recent years, however due to natural variability and impacts due to COVID-19 these differences should be interpreted with caution.

Additional information

Data and statistics

Visit Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Cancer screening

Information and strategies

Visit the individual screening program resources:

• BreastScreen Australia
• National cervical screening program
• National bowel cancer screening program
• National lung cancer screening program

Section technical notes

• Data for 2022–2023 for bowel and breast screening are preliminary only.

Figures on this page are interactive

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