Cancer among people living in rural and remote Indigenous communities in Queensland

Objective: To describe the pattern of cancer among people living in rural a nd remote Indigenous communities in Queensland and to consider what implica tions the results have for cancer control. Design and setting: Descriptive analysis of data on incidence and mortality from the population-based Queensland Cancer Registry for the years 1982-19 96. Main outcome measures: Age-standardised incidence and mortality rates for d ifferent cancer sites. Results: The pattern of cancer was different from that found in the Queensl and population as a whole. Of all the cancer sites, cervical cancer showed the biggest difference: the age-standardised incidence was 4.7 times the St ate average (95% CI, 3.2-6.6) and the mortality rate was 13.4 times the Sta te average (95% CI, 7.8-21.4). Rates of lung cancer and other smoking-relat ed cancers, although not as high as those for cervical cancer, were also si gnificantly higher than the Queensland average, while rates for prostate an d colorectal cancer were significantly lower. Conclusion: The cancers that are over-represented among Indigenous people a re amenable to preventive measures. The cancer burden among Indigenous peop le could be reduced by lowering the prevalence of smoking and improving par ticipation in cervical cancer screening and follow-up of screening-detected abnormalities.