At least 710 Australians were diagnosed with mesothelioma last year - the rare and fatal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
Western Australia had the highest rate of new mesothelioma cases in the year (4.9 per 100,000 people), while Tasmania had the least (1.5 per 100,000 people), according to new data released on Tuesday.
The figures published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare are based on diagnoses reported to the Australian Mesothelioma Registry, which was established in 2010.
The institute has also drawn on data from an older authority to make longer-term comparisons dating back to the early 1980s.
The number of mesothelioma cases has steadily risen since that time, the AIHW says, with a far more modest 157 cases reported in 1982.
But so far the number of diagnoses has peaked in 2014 at 770.
Men are four times more likely to be diagnosed with the rare cancer than women, the figures for 2017 show.
That is expected because the majority of cases are based on exposure in the types of environments in which males are more likely to work, the AIHW said.
Since 2010, 93 per cent of people who provided work and housing information to the national register had some exposure to asbestos.
"Occupational exposures were typically much higher and there was more certainty around them, which is likely to be the cause of the vast majority of cases," the institute's report states.
The national incidence rate of the cancer stood at 2.9 per 100,000, consistent with what it has been in recent years.
Survival rates for the cancer remain very poor, the report found, with the often slow diagnosis of the disease playing a role.
Between 1985-1989 and 2010-2014, the five-year relative survival rate for mesothelioma was 5.4 per cent.
"The condition is often diagnosed once it has reached the advanced stages, as early symptoms can go unnoticed or be mistaken as symptoms for other, less serious conditions," the report said.
The average time between diagnosis and death is about 11 months.
Share
