Secondary breast cancer data collection

Good Morning,

You may have seen previous discussions in the online network that data is not routinely collected on secondary breast cancer in the way it is when women are diagnosed with early breast cancer.

ABC radio and TV are running a story today featuring BCNA CEO Maxine Morand and BCNA member Amanda Rynne advocating that data on secondary breast cancer needs to be collected.

You can listen to ABC’s ‘Strategy to collect cancer data’ story.

Collecting data on cancer is an important process that enables governments to understand the number and characteristics of people diagnosed with cancer, including where they are located, the type/s of cancer they have been diagnosed with, and other relevant information.

When a person is diagnosed with cancer (including women with early breast cancer), their doctor must inform the Cancer Registry in their state and territory.

This information is crucial for planning and delivering services in an effort to meet the needs of those diagnosed with cancer.

However when a woman is diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, this information is not required to be collected, leaving a massive gap in our knowledge and understanding of secondary breast cancer.

BCNA, along with a number of other groups, has lobbied for information to be collected on secondary breast cancer for a number of years.

If you would like to learn more about the situation on secondary breast cancer data collection you can visit our News item webpage to read an update we published in July.

I hope you find it interesting.

Warmest regards,

Thea