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Penile cancer survivorship
Penile cancer falls within the rare cancer category. Due to the low number of people with rare cancers, the amount of research and clinical trials on these disease types are drastically less than those with common cancers.
With less research, we have less information about these cancers and less community awareness, therefore diagnosis remains slow and treatment availability is limited. All of this adds to the increased mortality rates for rare cancers.
Along with these challenges, non-Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are disadvantaged across an array of health and socioeconomic factors. This includes information and literature on survivorship amongst rural patients and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, which presents a priority for researchers.
Cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia
An average of 1,279
new cases of cancer a year in Indigenous Australians in 2009-2013 5 year relative survival from cancer was 50% in Indigenous Australians in 2007-2014
3,626
Indigenous Australians alive at the end of 2013 who had been diagnosed with cancer
An average of 551 deaths
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-inindigenous-australians/contents/table-of-contents
Penile cancer survivorship in Western Australia amongst rural patients and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
DR. SIMEON NGWESO Survivorship of many cancer types in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, such as breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancer, is known. However, penile cancer survivorship amongst rural patients in Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People has not been published within the literature.
Dr. Simeon Ngweso recently undertook a study to review survivorship of penile cancer patients in Western Australia who were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, or patients who were from rural communities, by performing a comprehensive, retrospective review of prospectively recorded penile cancer cases within the Western Australia Cancer Registry.
The research
Penile cancer is a very rare cancer and accounts for less than 1% of all cancers in males. A retrospective review of prospectively recorded penile cancer cases within the Western Australia Cancer Registry, between 1992 and 2017, was undertaken. The review found 186 cases of invasive penile cancer were recorded. Of this group, 62 patients (33.3%) were from rural WA, nine patients (4.8%) were Aboriginal, and five Aboriginal patients and 13 rural patients died from penile cancer. This review demonstrated that penile cancer patients from WA who were Aboriginal, or from rural WA, were at a greatly increased risk of death due to penile cancer.
Conclusion and next steps
Moving forward, more research is needed to understand disease characteristics amongst these vulnerable populations. Also, joint efforts amongst key stakeholders are necessary to address health discrepancies and improve outcomes. It is the responsibility of all health service organisations to consider and action their part in closing the gap in health inequalities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
