Regular screening has been shown to lower both the number of new cases and deaths from bowel (or colorectal) cancer. It helps by finding and treating pre-cancerous issues and early-stage cancer. Many developed countries have organized screening programs for bowel cancer.

In Australia, the government runs the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP), providing free screening every two years. They use a test called the immunochemical faecal occult blood test (iFOBT). The test checks for blood in the stool, which is an early sign of bowel cancer. The bowel screening program is for Australians aged 50 to 74. The goal is to detect signs of bowel cancer early and reduce related deaths. Eligible Australians in this age group receive a free test to use at home.

Publicly available population-level participation data for the national bowel cancer screening program were obtained from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.The results in the Atlas do not include any screening outside of this program.

The prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by the prostate – a small gland below the bladder of men.

Regular testing for PSA is commonly used as an opportunistic approach to check asymptomatic men for potential prostate cancer risk. However, further testing reveals that many men who receive a positive result from a PSA test do not have prostate cancer, and it can be challenging to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous conditions in the prostate using this test. As a result, in Australia it is conducted on a case-by-case basis rather than being part of organized population-wide screening programs. This is different to the formal cancer screening programs in Australia for breast cancer, bowel cancer and cervical cancer.

The Australian Cancer Atlas 2.0 reports geographical variation in PSA testing among men aged 50-79 between 2017 and 2018.

The data about PSA testing come from the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). The Commonwealth Department of Health shared the MBS data covering 2002-2018. This data specifically looks at item number 66655, which is for checking for prostate issues in men who don’t have symptoms.

The Australian Cancer Atlas 2.0 reports geographical patterns of prostate cancer treatment conducted among men admitted to public or private hospitals across Australia for the years 2008-2017. These include radical prostatectomy, high dose rate brachytherapy and low dose rate brachytherapy. Note that this does not include other common treatments for prostate cancer such as external beam radiation therapy.

Radical prostatectomy involves removing part or all of the prostate and is common for localized or locally advanced prostate cancer.

Brachytherapy, a type of radiotherapy, implants a radioactive source near or inside the cancer to target cancer cells while minimizing exposure to surrounding tissues. High dose rate brachytherapy releases a strong dose of radiation in short sessions, while low dose rate brachytherapy releases a lower dose over a more extended period.

Data were extracted using the Australian Classification of Health Intervention (ICD-10-AM/ACHI) refined Diagnosis Related Groups codes. Specifically, high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR brachytherapy) was identified using codes 15327-01, 15327-03, 15327-06, 15327-07, 15536-00, 15536-01, 15536-02. Low dose rate brachytherapy (LDR brachytherapy) was identified using codes 15327-00, 15327-02, 15327-04, 15327-05, 15338-00. Radical prostatectomy was identified using 37209-00, 37210-00, 37211-00, 37209-01, 37210-01, 37211-01.