Rare Cancers report

Rare Cancers Baseline Report: 2014, from Rare Cancers Australia, calls on the Australian government to take action to improve research, diagnostics and access to medicines for rare and less common cancer patients. 

 

‘Rare cancers’ are defined as those with an incidence of less than 6 per 100,000 Australians per annum and ‘less common’cancers as those with an incidence of between 6 and 12 per 100,000 Australians per annum.
This accounts for over 42,000 diagnoses of rare and less common (RLC) cancers and around 22,000 deaths in Australia.

The report describes a failing in research funding and support for patients with RLC cancers and their families.  The survival rates are very low compared to rates for the more common cancers.