Descriptive epidemiology of uterine cervix cancer at the medical oncology unit of the Yaoundé general hospital-Cameroon

Abstract

Uterine cervix cancer is the most common cancer found worldwide, mostly in developing countries. In Africa as well as in the Caribbean, it represents the second cause of mortality, just after maternal mortality. In Cameroon, data on cervix cancer are erratic, whereas the incidence of the disease is increasing. This paper is designed to define the epidemiological features of uterine cervix cancer, since it could help identifying behavioral, environmental and genetic risks factors involved in its development. A 4-year retrospective study of patients seen with the diagnosis of cervix cancer at the Medical Oncology unit of the Yaounde General Hospital between January 2012 and December 2015. Then a prospective study was conducted among health professionals working in the same oncological unit in 2017. The demographic pattern (age of patients, socio professional activity, marital status), clinical features (cancer diagnosis), treatment modalities and outcome were studied. Of the 7775 patients enrolled in the study, 3.61% (n = 281) were carriers of uterine cervix cancer. We noted a relatively large annual growth of cases and the annual average was 27 cases. The average age of our patients was 55.46 years with extreme ages ranging from 23 to 88 years Carcinoma of the cervix occurs much more frequently among women of lower income and education level. Although several risk factors were suspected in our study such as age, sexual factors (including STIs), none of them really testify their responsibility in the genesis of the cancer. However, improving the effective management of different patients suffering from cervix cancer requires an improvement in the conditions for the early and voluntary detection of people at risk, and the quality of care administered to patients.