Lung cancer is responsible for the most deaths across Western NSW, but NSW Government data suggests each town has a specific type of cancer problem.
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For instance, colon cancer claimed 30 lives in Bathurst between 2010 and 2014.
Colon cancer deaths were the second highest after lung cancer, which killed 73 residents during the same period.
Lung cancer constituted nearly 20 per cent of all cancer deaths in Bathurst.
Similarly, colon cancer deaths were the second highest in Orange.
Colon cancer claimed 28 lives, whereas 95 people lost their lives because of lung cancer in the city.
Pancreatic cancer claimed nine lives in Blayney, whereas lung cancer was the reason for the death of 16 residents during the same period.
In Dubbo and Cowra, prostate cancer-related deaths were the second highest after lung cancer.
Prostate cancer claimed 33 and 21 people in Dubbo and Cowra respectively.
In Forbes, cancer of unknown primary – where it is not possible to identify the type of cancer cells – was responsible for more deaths than colon and prostate cancer.
Further analysis of data suggests that among the new incidents of cancers, prostate cancer was the highest among all major towns between 2010 and 2014.
But each town had a specific problem.
For instance, Bathurst residents reported 193 new incidents of prostate cancer, followed by 131 cases of breast cancer and 101 cases of melanoma of skin cancer.
In Dubbo, lung cancer was the most prevalent cancer after prostate and breast cancer.
Prostate cancer had the highest share in Cowra, but lung and melanoma of skin cancers were in the second and third positions.
Few new cases of breast cancer were reported from this town.
This might be due to an increased awareness and cancer screening across all NSW local health districts, the Cancer Institute NSW said in its latest report on Tuesday.
The report noted that the overall adult smoking rate also fell by five per cent to 15 per cent of the surveyed population between 2007 and 2016.
But such measures won’t be sufficient to prevent 15,459 cancer deaths across NSW in 2018.
The report noted that another 46,112 people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year.
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