Open AccessOesophageal cancer magnitude and presentation in Ethiopia 2012–2017
Author(s) -
Abigiya Wondimagegnehu,
Selamawit Hirpa,
Samson Wakuma Abaya,
Muluken Gizaw,
Sefonias Getachew,
Wondimu Ayele,
Robel Yirgu,
Tamiru Demeke,
Berhe Dessalegn,
Jilcha Diribi,
Mirgissa Kaba,
Mathewos Assefa,
Ahmedin Jemal,
Eva Johanna Kantelhardt,
Adamu Addissie
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0242807
Subject(s) - medicine , interquartile range , referral , cancer , adenocarcinoma , cancer registry , retrospective cohort study , esophagus , surgery , family medicine
The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude, socio-demographic, and clinical characteristics of oesophageal cancer patients in selected referral hospitals of Ethiopia. A retrospective document review was employed in ten referral hospitals in different regions of Ethiopia. A structured data extraction tool was used to extract data from clinical care records of all clinically and pathologically confirmed oesophageal cancer patients who were diagnosed and treated in those hospitals from 2012 to 2017. During the study period, a total of 777 oesophageal cancer cases were identified, and the median age of these patients was 55 years, with an interquartile range of 19. More than half (55.1%, n = 428) of the cases were males, and the majority of them were reported from Oromia (49.9%, n = 388) and Somali (25.9%, n = 202) regional states. The highest numbers of oesophageal cancer cases were recorded in 2016 (23.8%, n = 185), while the lowest were in 2012 (12.6%, n = 98). Eighty per cent of oesophageal cancer cases were diagnosed in later stages of the disease. More than one-fourth (27.0%, n = 210) of patients had surgical procedures where the majority (74.3%, n = 156) required insertion of a feeding tube followed by transhiatal oesophagectomy (10.9%, n = 23). Of the 118 patients for which there was histology data, squamous cell carcinoma (56.7%, n = 67) and adenocarcinoma (36.4%, n = 43) were the predominant histologic type. One-fourth (25.0%, n = 194) of the patients were alive, and more than two-thirds (71.7%, n = 557) of the patients’ current status was unknown at the time of the review. In these referral hospitals of Ethiopia, many oesophageal cancer patients presented during later stages of the disease and needed palliative care measures. The number of patients seen in Oromia and Somali hospitals by far exceeded hospitals of the other regions, thus postulating possibly unique risk factors in those geographic areas.