The Cancer Council Victoria's latest report on cancer trends also shows that prostate cancer diagnoses are decreasing as fewer men choose to have controversial PSA (prostate specific antigen) tests. The tests have been criticised for detecting too many innocuous cancers in men, leading to potentially harmful treatment.

The report, Cancer in Victoria Statistics & Trends 2013, says that although prostate cancer remains the most common cancer in men with 4257 diagnoses last year, this had dropped 25 per cent since 2009 when cases peaked.

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women, with 4075 diagnoses last year, but it is becoming less fatal every year. The report says early detection and treatment advances now mean all women diagnosed with stage-one breast cancer could expect to live beyond five years.

Last year, the five most common cancers for Victorians were prostate, breast, bowel, lung and melanoma, together accounting for almost 60 per cent of new cancers and half of all cancer deaths.

While 90 per cent of women diagnosed with uterine cancers were aged over 50, the report said diagnoses were increasing 1 per cent per year, with steeper increases among younger women. "The obesity epidemic is thought to be a major factor in this increase," it says.

Cancer Council Victoria CEO Todd Harper said obesity was partly behind predictions that cancer diagnoses would rise 43 per cent over the next 10 to 20 years, particularly breast, bowel, pancreas, uterine, kidney, gall bladder and thyroid cancers. He said this highlighted the need for public health campaigns to encourage people to maintain a healthy weight.

"It took us 30 to 40 years of sustained effort to get on top of smoking ... I think we have a similar journey ahead," he said.

The report said cancer death rates were significantly higher for Aboriginal Victorians – a trend that may be linked to lower participation rates in screening, which aims to detect cancer at earlier stages.