Position Statements

Cancer Australia position statements address significant clinical issues, emerging issues in cancer control and issues of ongoing interest using the best available evidence.

  • Cancer clusters

    Released: February 2012
    Created: February 2012

    National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has released a position statement to provide information about the assessment and management of cancer clusters. The statement is intended to support guidelines issued by State and Territory Health Departments and Cancer Councils.

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  • Surveillance of women at high or potentially high risk of ovarian cancer

    Released: December 2009
    Created: December 2009

    Familial clusters of ovarian cancer have been recognised for many years and family history has been identified as a risk factor in epidemiological studies that have investigated its role.

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  • Population screening and early detection of ovarian cancer in asymptomatic women

    Released: August 2009
    Created: August 2009

    This position statement and supporting background information has been endorsed by the following colleges and agencies: the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian Society Gynaecologic Oncologists, Cancer Council Australia, the Screening Subcommittee of the Department of Health and Ageing, and The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

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  • Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and risk of breast cancer

    Released: July 2008
    Created: July 2008
    Revised & Updated: April 2010

    This position statement applies only to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and breast cancer risk in women – it does not address other risks or benefits to women from HRT usage.

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  • Risk of invasive breast cancer in women exposed to diethylstilbestrol in utero: A review of the evidence

    Created: February 2008

    This document provides a summary of findings from a search of the English language literature to examine the putative association between diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure in utero and invasive breast cancer.

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  • Over-diagnosis from mammography screening

    Released: January 2008
    Created: January 2008
    Revised & Updated: September 2010

    “Over-diagnosis” from screening refers to a diagnosis of cancer that would not have otherwise been diagnosed during the woman’s lifetime. Because the future cannot be predicted with any certainty, it is not possible to determine to which women this might apply. The term does not signify error or misdiagnosis.

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  • Sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer

    Released: October 2005
    Created: October 2005

    In 2002 the Executive Committee of the Breast Section of the RACS developed a position statement on sentinel node biopsy (SNB). At that time SNB was still being evaluated in clinical trials around the world, including our own SNAC trial.

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  • Early detection of breast cancer

    Released: August 2004
    Created: August 2004
    Revised & Updated: December 2009

    This position statement applies to screening methods for the early detection of breast cancer in asymptomatic women (women without breast changes). The statement does not apply to diagnostic tests used to assess individual women presenting with breast changes.

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  • Complementary and alternative therapies

    Released: April 2004
    Created: April 2004
    Revised & Updated: April 2010

    Although there is some looseness in usage of the terms, complementary therapies refer to those therapies that do not replace or preclude conventional medical therapies, whereas alternative therapies are treatment options outside the orthodox range, that may be used in place of conventional treatments.

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  • Statement on use of thermography to detect breast cancer

    Released: November 1999
    Created: November 1999
    Revised & Updated: February 2010

    Cancer Australia does not recommend the use of thermography for the early detection of breast cancer.

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