Get involved and help Queenslanders living with cancer by volunteering. Volunteers are the heart of our organisation. Join us to make a greater impact and connect with like-minded people.
Every contribution helps support those living with cancer. Whether a one-off donation or monthly gift, your support ensures funding stability for long-term goals and future generations.
Leave a legacy by including a gift in your Will, starting a tribute page for a loved one, or funding a research grant for early-career cancer researchers driving clinical innovations.
Organise a fundraising event in your community, either as a team or an individual. You can join one of our existing fundraising events or you might like to come up with your own way.
When organisations work together, we can have a greater impact for every Queenslander going through cancer and help amplify our message for all Australians.
However you get involved, you’re making a direct impact on the lives of Queenslanders affected by cancer. See the results of what we’ve all achieved.
Screening tests look for abnormalities in people who do not have symptoms. The benefit is that if you have an abnormality, doctors can treat it before cancer develops. Early detection helps to find cancer early, which can lead to a better prognosis. Vaccines protect your body against cancer forming.
Contributions go towards world-class research, prevention programs and support service.
Knowing what’s normal in your body is the best way to recognise if there is change. Get familiar with your normal by regularly checking over your entire body, and by being aware of what is normal for you. Then, if you find something unusual or have a change that is not normal for you, see your doctor. Even if you’re young, or you have had a check-up or had one of the cancer screens recently.
See your doctor for any of these changes:
Be breast aware by knowing what’s normal in how your breasts look and feel. Even though most breast changes are not cancer, see your doctor if you notice any changes.
It is important to have a conversation with your doctor about when breast cancer screening is right for you. Your doctor will be able to make recommendations about when to start screening based on your medical and family history.
If you’re aged between 50 – 74, you will be invited to get a free mammogram through BreastScreen Queensland. It is recommended that you then continue to get one every two years. If you’re aged 40 to 49 or 75 and over, there are different risks and benefits of breast screening for people with breasts at these ages so you should talk to your doctor to find out if breast screening is right for you.
BreastScreen run purpose-built vans to Queensland’s rural communities too.
Look for these types of breast changes often:
Call BreastScreen Queensland on 13 20 50 for more information.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for Australian people with a prostate (apart from skin cancer), and unfortunately, even advanced stage prostate cancer rarely shows symptoms. There is no screening program for prostate cancer, however there are tests your doctor can do to check for cancer. Before having a PSA test, it is important to talk to your doctor about the benefits and risks of your particular circumstances. The current guidelines recommend that people with a prostate over 50 to age 69 with no family history of prostate cancer have PSA testing every 2 years. People with a family history of prostate cancer have PSA testing every 2 years starting from age 40-45 depending on how strong the family history is.
Advanced cancer symptoms often include:
There is no simple test to find prostate cancer. Two commonly used tests are the PSA blood test and a digital rectal exam. Neither gives a cancer diagnosis, but they show changes in the prostate that may need further analysis.
Bowel cancer is a very common cancer for Australians, yet if detected early it’s successfully treated in about 90 percent of cases. Screening is the process of looking for cancer or abnormalities that could lead to cancer in people who do not have any symptoms. Screening is particularly important for bowel cancer, which often has no symptoms in its early stages.
Through the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, people aged 50 – 74 are automatically sent a free iFOBT kit every two years. If you are aged between 45-49 you can request your first kit to be mailed to you and you will then receive a kit every 2 years.
To get a free at home test kit mailed to you, order a kit online here or call 1800 627 701 for more information.
If you are not eligible for the program but have symptoms, a family history, or are worried about bowel cancer, talk to your doctor, they can tell you if you should do a screening test.
For more on bowel cancer screening, watch this short video.
Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. A simple check to look for human papillomavirus (HPV), a common symptomless infection that can cause the cervix’s cells to turn cancerous, can stop cervical cancer before it starts. Start cervical screening tests after your 25th birthday, then continue to be tested every five years. Under the national cervical screening program < www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-cervical-screening-program>, you can arrange for a healthcare professional to take a sample swab from your vagina, or you can self-collect in private at the doctors. (This test does not check for ovarian or endometrial cancers.)
The cervical screening test replaced the prior Pap smear testing, which looked at the changed cervical cells. This improved test looks for HPV, which can lead to those cell changes.
You can learn more about the cervical screening test through these short videos or call 13 15 56 for more.
If you have unusual vaginal bleeding or discharge, experience pain during sex, or have unexplained persistent vaginal discharge, you should see you doctor, nurse or health care worker as soon as possible, even if you are not due for a test.
In July 2025, lung cancer screenings will be introduced. We will have more information on this soon.
There is a difference between a ‘vaccination’ and an ‘immunisation’. A vaccination is when you get a vaccine by injection, drops in the mouth, or swallowed. When you have a vaccine, your immune system makes antibodies that fight off infection or disease. Immunisation is the process of both getting a vaccine and developing immunity to a disease as a result. Immunisations boost the body’s immune system to protect it against a specific disease. Vaccines for HPV and hepatitis can protect us against certain cancers.
The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, also called Gardasil 9, protects against nine types of HPV which causes around 90 percent of cervical cancers in women, and 90 percent of all HPV-related cancers in men, and 90 percent of genital warts. The proven and safe Gardasil vaccine, now given as a single dose (formerly two), is free and available from the ages of 12 or 13.
Hepatitis B is the major risk of liver cancer in Australia, with primary liver cancer being the fastest growing cause of cancer deaths. Hepatitis B is commonly spread through pregnancy or during childbirth (between mother and baby), through infected blood, semen or other bodily fluids.
The national immunisation program schedule provides a free Hepatitis B vaccination (HBV), which it recommends as part of a child’s routine immunisations. High-risk adults and teens can access immunisations through state and territory programs.
If you’re not sure if you’ve been vaccinated or you’d like to be tested for hepatitis B, your GP can let you know from a blood test.
If you’re aged between 45 – 74 you can have a free bowel cancer test kit mailed to you, or you can order a kit online here or call 1800 627 701. If you’re outside the recommended ages, have symptoms, or are at all concerned, talk to your GP who can recommend you receive a free test kit.
As part of the national bowel cancer screening program, you can receive a free home test kit. The kit gives you the equipment needed to collect two tiny samples from two different poos. You do not have to touch the poo with your hands to take the sample. You’ll return them in the reply-paid envelope to the pathology lab for analysis. In about four weeks’ time, you and your doctor will receive the results.
Find out more about the process here.
The screening processes differ depending on the area being screened.
A mammogram is used for a breast cancer screening, a stool sample for a bowel cancer screening and a swab is taken from the vagina in a cervical screening test.
It is recommended that you start talking to your doctor about when screening is right for you at 40. You will be invited to participate in the national breast cancer screening program from age 50, and will receive a reminder every 2 years up until the age of 75.
You should check your breasts often, and if any changes appear, contact your doctor to get it checked. Common changes to watch for are lumps, rashes or texture changes, sores or ulcers, discharge or any changes to the nipples. Your doctor may send you for further tests such as a mammogram or ultrasound to find out the cause of these changes.
All of these are different terms for the same cancer. Bowel cancer is the most commonly used term for cancer that starts in the inner lining of the bowel wall.
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