That’s almost a 20 per cent improvement since Newton-John was first diagnosed in 1992.
But it’s a less optimistic picture for those with metastatic breast cancer, which Newton-John was diagnosed with in 2017.
By then, she was the most famous face of breast cancer research and support advocacy.
Pilatti said the message given by Newton-John in her final years was that she “was really living with metastatic disease not dying from it”, adding there’s been so many advances in treatment and care “that has meant people do live a long time with this uncertainty in their life”.
However she said the death of Newton-John was also a reminder that there was still more important work to do.
More than 3000 Australians die from breast cancer each year.
“Today is a day for us to day, to highlight [breast cancer is] not done, and we need people to continue to invest in research, we need people we need women and men diagnosed to invest their time into clinical trials and we need the community to understand that it’s not just about the disease, but about the person.”