![]() Life expectancy at birth for Indigenous males is estimated to be 67 years and for females it is 73 years, representing gaps of 11.5 and 9.7 years, respectively, compared with other Australians (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Indigenous Australians experience poorer overall health compared with other Australians. The greatest absolute numbers of Indigenous Australians reside in NSW and Queensland (208,476 and 188,954 respectively) while the Northern Territory has the largest proportion with around 30% (68,850) identifying as Indigenous (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Indigenous Australians represent around 3% of the total Australian population and are a culturally and linguistically diverse population residing across all Australian states and territories and in urban, regional and remote localities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (respectfully referred to hereafter as Indigenous) women experience significantly poorer breast cancer outcomes than other Australian women (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Cancer Australia, 2013). While the recent overall picture of breast cancer survival in Australia is improving, this is not the case for all Australians. Gains in outcomes which are increasingly evident in most developed countries (Coleman et al., 2011b) are attributed to early detection associated with screening and improvements in the management and treatment of the disease (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2012c). While the number of new cases has almost tripled in the last three decades (there were 5,310 new cases in 1982 and 15,166 in 2012) (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016), mortality is decreasing and survival is improving. One-quarter of hospitalizations that occur for Australian women is attributed to breast cancer and it is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, 2009). With increasing emphasis on personalized health care, a clear understanding of breast cancer incidence, survival, mortality, and causal agents within the Indigenous population is required if breast cancer prevention and management is to be optimized for Indigenous Australians.īreast cancer is the second most common carcinoma in Australian females with one in eight women developing the disease (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2012a). Part Two presents the risk factors most strongly associated with breast cancer including age, place of residence, family risk, genetics, reproductive history, tobacco use, alcohol intake, physical activity, participation in screening and breast density. Part One presents a summary of the latest incidence, survival and mortality data. The aim of this two-part narrative review is to examine the available evidence on breast cancer and its risk factors in Australian Indigenous women. ![]() Concomitantly there are demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle factors associated with breast cancer risks that are heavily represented within Indigenous communities. For indigenous women there are also more advanced and distant tumours at diagnosis, fewer hospitalisations for breast cancer, and lower participation in breast screening. ![]() Despite a lower breast cancer incidence compared with non-indigenous women, fatalities occur at an elevated rate and breast cancers have an earlier age of onset. Cancer is the second largest contributor to the burden of disease with breast cancer being the most common invasive cancer diagnosed for females. The Indigenous people of Australia face significant health gaps compared with the general population, with lower life expectancies, higher rates of death, and chronic illness occurring more often than in non-indigenous Australians.
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