Oral Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Variations in cancer incidence and stage by migration status in New South Wales. (146526)

Siphiwe Ratladi 1 2 , MD Mijanur Dr Rahman 1 2 , Fiona A/Prof Stanaway 3 , Vikneswary Dr Batumalai 1 4 5 , Gowri Dr Shivasabesan 1 4 6 , Geoff Prof Delaney 1 2 , Mei Ling A/Prof Yap 1 2 5
  1. UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Ingham Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  4. Ingham Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  5. The George Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  6. Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Aims 

Approximately one-third of Australians are migrants, yet population-level evidence on their cancer epidemiology remains limited. We aimed to quantify the cancer incidence and degree of spread in migrants compared to the non-migrant population in New South Wales (NSW).

Methods 

We conducted a retrospective cohort study in the NSW population using linked data from Census 2016, Cancer Registry (2016-2022), Deaths Registration (2016-2024) and Migration data (1990-2023). We analysed for  collectively all cancers, breast, cervical, prostate, stomach, liver, lung and colorectal cancer. Incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% confidence interval (CI)/relative risk (RR) and 95% CI were estimated using negative Binomial regression/modified Poisson regression adjusted for age and socio-economic factors across 7 cancer sites and collectively all cancers.

Results 

Of 6,675,102 people in the cohort, 29% are migrants. Among these migrants, 30.2% had less than 10 years since arrival in Australia and 64.77% speak a language other than English at home. Increased IRR was observed among migrants for stomach cancer (IRR=1.46, 95%CI:1.36, 1.57) and liver cancer (IRR=1.21, CI:1.12, 1.31). Migrants born in North-East Asia and Europe had up to 34% higher incidence rate for lung cancer, while increased breast cancer incidence rate was observed for migrants born in North-West Europe (IRR=1.12, 95%CI:1.07, 1.17).  Migrants who spoke a language other than English at home had increased liver cancer incidence (IRR=1.32, 95%CI:1.20, 1.44) compared to non-migrants. Furthermore, migrants had an increased risk of distant spread at diagnosis compared to non-migrants for breast cancer (RR=1.20, 95%CI:1.08, 1.34) and all cancers combined (RR: 1.14, 95%CI:1.11, 1.17).

Discussion/Conclusion

These results present a novel opportunity to understand the epidemiology of cancer among migrants, leveraging national administrative datasets linked to the cancer registry. These results can inform targeted solutions to improve cancer control in specific migrant subpopulations.