The Cancer Council of New South Wales says by 2017, the state will see the number of women in treatment, remission or recovery from breast cancer rise by as much as 40 per cent compared to 2007.
The number of men in the same situation with prostate cancer is expected to be up by 73 per cent.
"These statistics can extrapolate out to national statistics," Cancer Council NSW Associate Professor David Smith explained.
"We expect to see about 400,000 Australians diagnosed with prostate and breast cancer in 2017.
"That's a lot of people who will need treatment, support, ongoing access to monitoring and surveillance for their cancers.
"We're calling on the state government and the federal government to take these figures very seriously moving into the future because of the magnitude of the numbers we need to have in place, the infrastructure and the manpower to be able to adequate deal with them."
Catherine Rolston was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago. She said regardless of age, family history or socioeconomic status, a diagnosis can happen to anyone.
"It was a huge shock," she said.
"I was just 26 years of age, I didn't have any family history of the disease.
"It's certainly not one of those things you're expecting. I thought I was a fairly young, fit and active 26 year old."
After melanoma, breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian women.
The Cancer Council has attributed the rise in both breast and prostate cancer to an increase in incidence rates and survivorship of the diseases, as well as an ageing population.
"The good news is we are surviving longer with these cancers as a result of early detection, better treatment and better management," Associate Professor Smith said.
In most cases, regular breast and prostate cancer checks should begin around the age of 50.
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