Cancer of the cervix in unscreened West African women

Abstract

Background: Cancer of the cervix remains an important health problem amongst women worldwide. Widespread comprehensive cervical cancer control programs have resulted in a marked reduction in the incidence and mortality in most developed countries. Developing countries bear over 80% of the global burden, with only 5% of the global resources for the control of cancer. Majority of the cases in these countries present late and are incurable at the time of diagnosis. Aim: To review the presentation and histopathological types of cervical cancer cases seen in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano, over a sixteen-year period (1995-2010). Materials and Methods: Case records of histopathologically diagnosed cases of cancer of the cervix were retrieved. Demographic data, stage of the tumor at presentation, and histopathologic type were extracted. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Six hundred and sixty gynecological cancers were seen during the study period, with cancer of the cervix accounting for 58.5% (386/660) cases. Among these cases with cancer of the cervix 71.1% (275/386) were grand multiparous and majority 89.7 % 346/386 presented with advanced disease. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounted for 86.3% (333/386) of the cancers, adenocarcinoma contributed 12.4%,(48/386) and others contributed 1.3% (5/386). Conclusion: Cancer of the cervix is the commonest gynecological cancer at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. SCC is the commonest histological type.

Regular condom use tends to decrease cervical lesions in resident-commercial sex workers in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…(19) Again, the larger the family size of residentCSWs, the more tendency to having different social characters in the family. Our study, however, is in agreement with Gaya et al (20) where poverty as a result of large family sizes has been linked to prostitution and could serve as reservoirs for diseases that may lead to cervical lesion. We also observed that the Oredo LGA in Benin City, Nigeria had the highest influx of both migrant 27/89 (30.3%) and teenage 13/ 34 (38.2%) resident CSWs (Table 1).…”

Cervical cancer in women with unhealthy cervix in a rural population of a developing country

“…The studies of Juneja et al, [14] Shields et al [15] also pointed out these risk factors. [5] Shanta et al in 2000 studied etiologic association and possible risk factors for cervical carcinoma. Sexual and reproductive factors, socio-economic factors (education and income), viruses e.g., herpes simplex virus, HPV, human immunodeficiency virus in cervical carcinogenesis and other factors such as smoking, diet, oral contraceptives, hormones play a significant role.…”

“…[1][2][3] Low socio-economic status, multiple pregnancies, poor sexual hygiene and early marriage are closely related to the population living in rural areas and all of these are important risk factors of cancer cervix. [4][5][6] Cervical cancer is a preventable disease with treatment of precancerous lesions and is also curable at early stages. [7,8] Cervical cytology and human papillomavirus (HPV) co-test are recommended by American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as effective screening programs for cancer cervix, but these are not very effective in developing countries like India, where resources are limited and incidence of cervicitis is high.…”

Novel use of fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy to diagnose cervical cancer in a low‐resource setting: A case series Morovia, Liberia

“…This finding correlates with findings elsewhere in which squamous cell carcinoma is the most common cancer of the cervix. Gaya et al also encountered maximum cases of squamous cell carcinoma in their studies 14 . This finding is explainable as squamous cell carcinoma accounts for the vast majority of cervical malignancies in sub Saharan Africa with the etiological agent being oncogenic HPV serotypes 15 .…”