Rapid Fire Oral Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Variations in cancer incidence and stage by refugee status in New South Wales. (146545)

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

Aim 

Approximately one-third of the New South Wales population are migrants, including those granted humanitarian visas. There is no population-level evidence on the  cancer incidence and stage amongst the refugee population in NSW . We aimed to quantify the cancer incidence and degree of spread among refugees compared to non-refugee migrants, as well as the non-migrant population in 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. Negative Binomial regression was used to estimate the incidence rate (IR) and rate ratio (IRR), and modified Poisson regression was used to estimate risk and relative risk of distant spread at diagnosis, adjusted for age and socio-economic factors.

 

Results 

In total, 8,188 refugees were diagnosed with cancer between 2016 and 2022. The most common cancers were breast (n=1195), prostate (n= 1174) and colorectal cancer (n=996). The median age at diagnosis for all cancers was 67 years.

Refugees had higher incidence of liver cancer (IRR= 1.36(95%CI:1.18, 1.57) compared to non-refugees-non-migrants; non-refugee migrants had increased incidence for liver (IRR= 1.19(95%CI:1.10, 1.28) and lung cancer (IRR= 1.06(95%CI:1.02, 1.10).

Refugees born in Europe (IRR:1.32, 95%CI:1.17, 1.50), North-East and South-East Asia (IRR:1.77,CI:1.52, 2.06), had higher liver cancer incidence. Refugees born in Europe (IRR:1.35,CI:1.27, 1.42) and North-East Asia (IRR:1.30, CI:1.20, 1.41) had higher lung cancer incidence. 

Refugees had an increased risk of distant spread at diagnosis compared to non-migrants (RR:1.29,95%CI:1.05, 1.58) for stomach, breast cancer (RR:1.43, 95%CI:1.15, 1.78) and all cancers combined (RR:1.23,95%CI:1.17, 1.29).

 

Discussion/Conclusion

These results form a unique opportunity to leverage state-level data linkage to inform strategies tailored to achieve better cancer outcomes.