THE Fiji Cancer Society says there is a 90 per cent survival rate only if cancer is detected at an early stage.
According to the society, early detection is the key if Fiji wants to reduce cancer related deaths.
Society president Nirmala Nambiar said late detection meant the survival rate dropped to 10 or 20 per cent.
She said health professionals received more women with late stage tumors, where all that could be done was to make them comfortable in their last days.
"More women are living behind children, husbands and families who cannot understand what happened and why so quickly," she said.
She said figures from the Ministry of Health reported 64 new cases of breast cancer, 120 cervical cancer and 35 cases of men's cancer as of 2011.
"The most frightening aspect of these statistics besides the fact they increase every year is that there is a death for every new case reported," she said.
She said this month the society conducted education programs to change the mindset of people.
One such initiative was the bra art competition.
This year Priyanka Ram won the Decorated Bra category with her Fiji fusion design while Patricia Fraser won the prize for Making A Bra using recycled copper wire. They won $500 each given by Colgate Palmolive.