Cancer incidence in Ghana, 2012: evidence from a population-based cancer registry

Abstract

BackgroundData on cancers is a challenge in most developing countries. Population-based cancer registries are also not common in developing countries despite the usefulness of such registries in informing cancer prevention and control programmes. The availability of population-based data on cancers in Africa varies across different countries. In Ghana, data and research on cancer have focussed on specific cancers and have been hospital-based with no reference population. The Kumasi Cancer Registry was established as the first population-based cancer registry in Ghana in 2012 to provide information on cancer cases seen in the city of Kumasi.MethodsThis paper reviews data from the Kumasi Cancer Registry for the year 2012. The reference geographic area for the registry is the city of Kumasi as designated by the 2010 Ghana Population and Housing Census. Data was from all clinical departments of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Pathology Laboratory Results, Death Certificates and the Kumasi South Regional Hospital. Data was abstracted and entered into Canreg 5 database. Analysis was conducted using Canreg 5, Microsoft Excel and Epi Info Version 7.1.2.0.ResultsThe majority of cancers were recorded among females accounting for 69.6% of all cases. The mean age at diagnosis for all cases was 51.6 years. Among males, the mean age at diagnosis was 48.4 compared with 53.0 years for females. The commonest cancers among males were cancers of the Liver (21.1%), Prostate (13.2%), Lung (5.3%) and Stomach (5.3%). Among females, the commonest cancers were cancers of the Breast (33.9%), Cervix (29.4%), Ovary (11.3%) and Endometrium (4.5%). Histology of the primary tumour was the basis of diagnosis in 74% of cases with clinical and other investigations accounting for 17% and 9% respectively. The estimated cancer incidence Age Adjusted Standardised Rate for males was 10.9/100,000 and 22.4/100, 000 for females.ConclusionThis first attempt at population-based cancer registration in Ghana indicates that such registries are feasible in resource limited settings as ours. Strengthening Public Health Surveillance and establishing more Population-based Cancer Registries will help improve data quality and national efforts at cancer prevention and control in Ghana.

Recommendations for cervical cancer prevention and control in Ghana: public education and human papillomavirus vaccination

“…3 In Kumasi, cervical cancer account for 29.4% of all female cancers in 2012. 4 According to GLOBOCAN, 3,052 new cases and 1,556 deaths from cervical cancer were recorded in Ghana in 2012. 1 Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been shown to be a necessary initiator of cervical cancer but the infection progresses to cancer only in a fraction of women.…”

Participatory Ethnomedicinal Cancer Research with Fante-Akan Herbalists in Rural Ghana

“…This compares to global data (Jemal et al 2011), as well as the 2012 regional Kumasi cancer registry data (Laryea et al 2014), which also cite breast cancer as the most common cancer type diagnosed among women, suggesting there may be a similarly high incidence rate among the rural population of Kormantse. The herbalists did not mention either cervical or liver cancer types, even though cervical cancer (in women) and liver cancer (in men) are the two most commonly diagnosed cancers in Ghana (American Cancer Society 2015).…”

“…According to Laryea et al (2014), region-specific cancer rates have not been adequately documented in Ghana. The first population-based cancer registry in the country was established in 2012 in the urban city of Kumasi, located in the Ashanti Region about 110 miles north of Kormantse.…”

“…The first population-based cancer registry in the country was established in 2012 in the urban city of Kumasi, located in the Ashanti Region about 110 miles north of Kormantse. The Kumasi registry data showed that the most commonly diagnosed cancers were, in decreasing order, liver, prostate, lung, and stomach among men; and breast, cervix, ovary, and endometrium among women (Laryea et al 2014). Country-wide data from 2012 indicated that cervical cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Ghanaian women (American Cancer Society 2015), with over 50% of these cases attributed to the vaccine preventable 2 human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 (Ebu et al 2015).…”

Investigating racial differences in clinical and pathological features of prostate cancer in South African men

“…Ghana for 2012 (68). Although CaP was the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in males after liver cancer, the estimated ASR was only 1.7 per 100,000.…”