The Rural Doctors Association says it is time the Federal Government did more to help cancer sufferers in remote areas.

Of the tens of thousands of Australians diagnosed with cancer every year, one-third live in remote and rural areas.

But cancer sufferers in remote areas are 35 per cent more likely to die within five years as compared to patients in major cities.

As well as a higher mortality rate, rural residents have higher rates of bowel and prostate cancer.

Lesley Reilly, who lives outside Alice Springs, was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer 12 years ago when a mobile breast screen clinic visited town.

"It was a shock because I had no sense of being unwell. I had no symptoms. It's a big thing to get your head around," she said.

She decided to have a double mastectomy, which meant travelling 1,500 kilometres to get specialist care and radiotherapy.

"That's pretty hard, and I think it's hard on your family too," she said.

"I went down on my own. My husband and youngest daughter came down for a week.

"But for many other people, and particularly for Aboriginal people, you're in very much a foreign environment and away from your community and cultural norms."

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Ms Reilly says more help is desperately needed for sufferers in rural and remote areas.

"I feel like we have to fight for everything," she said.

"There are programs going that they have elevated some of the services, but out there on the ground I think a lot more could really be done."

The Rural Doctors Association has made a pre-budget submission to the Federal Government.

"I mean you can't just ignore those situations and the input they're having into the economy for all Australians," the association's president Paul Mara said.

"I mean we're providing food for the nation, we're providing the major economics for the nation in terms of the mining industry."

Dr Mara says they are calling for more doctors and medical facilities in rural and remote areas.

"We're looking for a national advanced training program that rolls out advanced skills for doctors so it gives them the skills, the qualifications and competence to practise in the bush," he said.

"We're seeking those doctors that have those skills and competence to actually have incentives and the requisite remuneration structures that they can actually be paid for going out and providing those services."

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek was not available for an interview.

But in a written statement she acknowledged "rural cancer patients often have poorer outcomes".

The Government says the 24 regional cancer centres announced last year will go some way to addressing that situation.