Effect of Radiotherapy on Renal Function in Cervical Cancer Patients Treated at a Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Nigeria

Abstract

Cervical cancer (CC) has been identified as a leading cause of cancer-related death of women in Nigeria. Unfortunately, treatment for CC induces renal function injury due to nephrotoxicity of commonly used cytotoxic medications and radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to determine whether radiotherapy consistently impairs the renal function of cervical cancer patients after treatment as claimed by literature. The study was an ex post facto research, for retrospective evaluation of documented information on 220 cervical cancer patients treated in the Department of Radiotherapy, Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, Nigeria. The study covered a six-year period from January, 2010 to December, 2015. Data were obtained from the patients’ case notes using a semi-structured data extraction form. Independent t-test and chi-square statistics were used to obtain and interpret results from the analysis of the data. The study hypothesis one states that there would be both positive and negative effects of radiotherapy on the renal function of patients with cervical cancer. But no significant difference was found regarding the effect of radiotherapy on renal function of the patients with cervical cancer at χ2 (1, N=220) = .284, P = 288. Hypothesis two states that there was no statistically significant difference in the Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) of the patients, measured before and after treatment (t (219) = -0.66, P> 0.5). Extrapolating from the study results revealed that radiotherapy does not only cause renal function impairment, but also enhances renal function among patients with cervical cancer. The study however recommends that there should be a constant monitoring of the GFR for every patient with cervical cancer underdoing radiotherapy.