What is lung cancer?

Cancer that starts in one or both of the lungs is known as primary lung cancer. When cancer starts in another part of the body and spreads to the lungs, it is called secondary or metastatic cancer in the lung.

You can access further information about lung cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.

The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.

How common is lung cancer?

In 2023, 3449 Victorians were diagnosed with lung cancer. Of these, there were 1800 males and 1649 females, representing 52.2% and 47.8% of the total Victorian lung cancer diagnoses, respectively. Currently, lung cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 45.3 per 100,000 males and 36.5 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of lung cancer is 71 years in males and 71 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 8.8% of all cancers diagnosed and 18.5% of all cancer-related deaths in 2023, lung cancer was the 4th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.

Trends in lung cancer over time

Figure 3a shows for males between 1982 to 2023 the age standardised incidence rate of lung cancer declined by an average of 1.5% per year.

For females between 1994 to 2023 the age standardised incidence rate of lung cancer increased by an average of 1.2% per year.

Lung cancer morphology

Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused lung cancer among all cases. Almost 90% of lung cancer tumours are non-small-cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC), a group that can be further divided by cell type. Most lung cancer tumours, 41%, present as adenocarcinoma (nsclc) tumours.

Lung cancer subtypes

Figure 5 provides a breakdown of lung cancer by its location in 2023. Most (42.4%) are found in the Upper lobe section of the lung.

Geographical variance in lung cancer by local government area

Figure 6 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of lung cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of lung cancer.

Lung cancer in people born overseas

Figure 7 shows the age standardised incidence rates of lung cancer in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2018 to 2022. The highest age standardised incidence rate for lung cancer was 60.4 for males born in the Southern Europe region and the lowest rate of 27.4 was observed in males born in the Southern and Central Asia region. The highest age standardised incidence rate for lung cancer was 46.1 for females born in the UK and Ireland region and the lowest rate of 13.7 was observed in females born in the Southern and Central Asia region.

Lung cancer five-year relative survival

Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for lung cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for lung cancer between 1983-1987 and 2018-2022 from 10% to 30%.