Data shows NT cancer statistics are improving

NT Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Paul Burgess says decades of hard work is paying off.

After reporting what she thought was a common occurrence, Sheridan Martin’s life was turned upside down.

The Territory mum had been breastfeeding her young bub when noticed her milk flow was lagging.

Thinking it was blocked milk duct, Sheridan raised the issue with a doctor, who organised an ultrasound.

Sheridan would learn she actually had breast cancer and would undergo aggressive treatment within three weeks of her diagnosis.

Her first thought? Her bub.

“I had a very short amount of time to come to terms with it all,” she said.

“My biggest concern was ‘How am I going to wean my baby?’”

Cancer survivor Sheridan Martin says she was well supported from the day she was diagnosed.

Being from Victoria, Sheridan was unsure how much support she could rely on in the Top End.

“My mum and sister-in-law were doing lots of research into treatment and my particularly type of cancer,” she said.

“They had concerns about availability of treatment in Darwin.”

Sheridan credited the Alan Walker Cancer Care Centre, built in 2010, as having a positive impact in her journey.

Fortunately, Sheridan and her family received “the most incredible support” in the 12 months that followed.

“I honestly can’t fault the treatment and the care that I received up here,” she said.

“And the Alan Walker Cancer Centre … the staff there become your friends, you know they’re going through it all with you.”

Sheridan is one of many Territorians who have benefited from timely cancer treatment in the NT, with a new report showing improvement in cancer survival for people living in the NT in the past 30 years.

NT cancer data recorded between 1991-2020 was published by the Medical Journal of Australia last month, showing an improvement in cancer outcomes.

Dr Paul Burgess said the data was evidence of "hard work".

Acting chief health officer of the NT Dr Paul Burgess said decades of “hard work” had paid off and become the difference in people's’ lives.

“In my 25 years in the NT, we’ve got better and cancer diagnosis, better treatments and bringing services closer to home,” he said.

“Opening up the Alan Walker Cancer Centre in 2010 was a major leap forward too.

“Now we’re seeing that in the statistics – improved cancer survival for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Territorians which is extremely gratifying.”

In 1990, the five year survival for cancer concerning Aboriginal Territorians was around 26.8 per cent.

The figure jumped up to 42.6 per cent in 2020, with non-Aboriginal Territorians recorded at 69.7 per cent.

While the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal survivability remains, Dr Burgess maintained the numbers were worth being “incredibly proud of”.

“The other key message about cancer in the NT is that everyone can do things to reduce their chances of getting it,” he said.
“(In the NT), we have the highest smoking rates in the country.

“And another issue for us is being moderate with our alcohol consumption.”

In the communities, Dr Burgess said cancer awareness was growing.

“My experience as a clinician is when a family sees a member of their family receive a cancer diagnosis, it becomes a pivotal moment in that family’s life history.”

Originally published as Data shows NT cancer statistics are improving