About one in every two Australians will be diagnosed with some form of cancer by the time they are 85.
But a study just published in The Lancet has some good news.
Australians have a relatively good chance of being alive five years after diagnosis.
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Eighty-eight percent of breast cancer patients in Australia survive six percent more than in Britain.
For bowel cancer the figure is 12 points higher.
The survival rate for ovarian cancer in Australia is 38 percent, while it's 36 percent in Britain.
And though the rate is low for lung cancer, it's still almost double the British figure.
Canada's results also topped the table and experts say it's partly thanks to early detection.
“There is something of a stiff upper lip, still a reluctance to waste the doctor's time,” Sara Hiom from Cancer Research UK has told SBS.
“That's a very common theme that's coming through in the surveys that we do: people are really afraid to bother their doctor with something that could be quite a trivial sign”.
The Cancer Council's Andrew Penman says a systematic approach to detection and treatment is the key.
“It isn't just a matter of throwing doctors, nurses, drugs and money at the problem,” he told SBS.
But he says Australia could still do better.
He says a national screening programme for bowel cancer could save another thousand saves per year.
The study examined four major cancers but the Cancer Council says there is still a way to go in other areas.
For example, Australians are still spending the summer days tanning at the beach, in a country that has the world's highest incidence of melanoma
There are particular concerns for immigrant groups.
“Liver cancer is the most rapidly rising cancer in Australia. That remains a challenge largely unaddressed”
Immigrants may also be less likely to seek medical help - because of factors including language barriers and costs.
