Abstract
Background: Survival of patients after rectal cancer surgery as well as their quality of life (QoL) has been little studied in Africa and never in our country in particular. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional multicentre study in Yaoundé (Cameroon). We reviewed operating reports of the selected departments to identify patients operated from January 2010 to December 2019 for a rectal cancer. The outcome of patients enrolled had to be known until December 2020. Patients who were alive were contacted to evaluate their QoL using the EORTC QLQ C30 (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL questionnaire). Results: During the study period, rectal cancer was ranked 4th within the digestive cancers. We included 68 patients; their mean age was 49.74 years and 41.18% were under 45. The sex ratio was 1.19 in favour of males. The tumour was mainly located in the lower rectum (45.6%). The main surgical procedure implemented was abdomino-perineal resection (42.6%). Forty-one patients died, giving a mortality rate of 60.29%. The mean survival time was 13 months. The 5-year survival rate for the 32 patients operated from January 2010 to December 2015 was 21.87%. The overall QoL of the 27 living patients was good with a mean of 62.346 ± 15.907. Sexual complications and urinary disorders were found in 40.74% and 14.81% of patients, respectively. Conclusion: There is a low hospital incidence of rectal cancer in our context. The 5-year survival after rectal cancer surgery is poor while the QoL of living patients is good.
Highlights
Rectal cancer is one of the most frequent human malignant neoplasms
We reviewed operating reports of the selected departments to identify patients operated from January 2010 to December 2019 for a rectal cancer
A morbidity of 30% - 50% has been reported after rectal cancer surgery [19] [20]; urinary and sexual complications are found in 7% 27% [21] [22] and 6.3% - 100% of cases [23] [24], respectively
Summary
Rectal cancer is one of the most frequent human malignant neoplasms. It represents 29.3% of cancers of the large intestine [1]. In Black Africa, accessibility to chemotherapy and radiotherapy is low due to the high cost and scarcity of dedicated services [9] [10] [14] [15] [16] In this context, surgery is often the only therapeutic modality implemented [14] [17]. A morbidity of 30% - 50% has been reported after rectal cancer surgery [19] [20]; urinary and sexual complications are found in 7% 27% [21] [22] and 6.3% - 100% of cases [23] [24], respectively All these complications may affect patients’ quality of life (QoL). We undertook this study with the aim of determining the survival and QoL of patients who had surgery for rectal cancer in our environment
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