The Cancer Burden and Patient Management at the Radiotherapy Department of Mulago Hospital, Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer is still a world health concern. In developing countries like Uganda, cancer is one of the major health problems that are increasing due to increased life expectancy and the pandemic of HIV/AIDS. Objective: To establish the incidence of different cancers among patients presenting at the Radiotherapy department of Mulago Hospital, Uganda. Methods: It was a retrospective study in which 2253 medical records of biopsy proven cancer patients who were accrued between January 2007 to December 2008 were retrieved and reviewed. Results: Of all cancers reported for females, cervical carcinoma was the most frequent seen with 43.6% of cases, followed by breast cancer seen in 21% of cases. Prostate cancer was the most frequent in males seen in 39.7% of cases. Conclusion: There is an increase in the number of cancer patients in Uganda. There has been a similar increase in mortality rates owing to the limited resources to curb the morbidity of the disease. Developing more radiotherapy centres to handle the increasing number of patients is highly recommended.