Objective: To describe the epidemiological and histological aspects of cervical cancer in Cameroon. Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive retrospective study carried out over a period of 10 years (2005-2014), on malignant tumors of the cervix observed at the laboratory of Anatomic Pathology in four regions (Center, Littoral, West, South-west). The studied parameters were frequency, age, sex, localization, histological type and the immuno-histochemical aspects. Results: A total of 2078 cases with an annual frequency of 20.78 cases were registered; the peak was reached in 2010 with 304 cases (14.62%). Cervical cancer was the main genital cancer affecting women with a percentage of 82.26%. The average age of the patients was 52.33 ± 12. 80 years old, with extremes from 22 to 93 years old. The age group from 40 to 59 had more than half of the cases, with 1094 cases (52.65%). The major histological types recorded were squamous cell cancer with 1687 cases (81.51%) and adenocarcinoma with 269 cases (12.95%). Conclusion: Cervical cancer is the chief genital cancer affecting female genital organs. The predominant histological types are squamous cell cancers.
Cervical cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death among females in less developed countries. Incidence rates are the highest in countries with low income [
This is a descriptive and retrospective study over a period of 10 years (from January 2005 to December 2014), concerning cervical cancers in four regions (Center, Littoral, West and South-west) of Cameroon. The study protocol was approved by Ethics Committee of all the concerned institutions. The patients were from gynecology or oncology services in different health centers of the country. The samples examined were mainly composed of biopsies and surgical specimens obtained from women suspected of cervical cancer. These tissue specimens were fixed in 10% formalin and processed according to the usual techniques of paraffin embedding, microtome cutting and staining with hematoxylin-eosin. Only those women for whom the diagnosis was confirmed by the histology were included in the study. The data consisted of independent variables such as patient frequency, age, histological type of the tumor. The dependent variable concerned the cervical cancer confirmed by histology. The analysis of variables was performed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), as 16.0. The elements of descriptive statistics were used to calculate the frequencies and proportions.
From 2005 to 2014, 2559 cases of genitals cancers in women were observed. Cervical cancer was the most frequent malignant tumour (2078 cases; 81.20%), followed by ovarian cancer (199 cases; 7.78%), as shown in
The average age of patients was 52.33 ± 12.80 with extremes ranging from 22 to 93 years old. The peak incidence was noted with patients from 40 to 49 years old with a percentage of 27.28% (578 cases) as shown in
Concerning clinical presentation of cervical cancers, their frequency is reported by
Clinical presentation | Effective (n) | Percentage (%) |
---|---|---|
Polypoid lesions | 71 | 13.65 |
Ulcerative budding | 324 | 62.31 |
Bleeding | 105 | 20.19 |
Induration | 20 | 3.85 |
was predominant (62.31%), followed by bleeding (20.19%).
The cervical cancer is the most frequent genital cancer in women in our series (81.20%). This proportion is
Ages | Histological types of cervical cancer | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SCC | ADK | UC | ASC | NHL | Sarcoma | Total | |
20 - 21 | 35 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
30 - 39 | 230 | 35 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 280 |
40 - 49 | 455 | 90 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 578 |
50 - 59 | 425 | 77 | 7 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 532 |
60 - 69 | 308 | 33 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 363 |
70 - 79 | 200 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 230 |
≥80 | 35 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46 |
Total | 1687 (81.18%) | 269 (12.95%) | 45 (2.17%) | 62 (2.98%) | 5 (0.24%) | 10 (0.48%) | 2078 (100%) |
Note: SCC: Squamous cell carcinoma; ADK: Adenocarcinoma; UC: Undifferentiated Carcinoma, ASC: Adenosquamous Carcinoma; NHL: Non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
higher than what we found in the Littoral region of Cameroon in 2015, which was 72.32% [
The average age of patients was 52.33 ± 12.80 years old. This age is superimposed on those found in Yaoundé by Sando et al. (52.73 ± 3.82 years), Engbang et al. in Douala (51.22 ± 11.93 years old), and Elmajjawi et al. Morocco, in his series of 696 cases that had an average age of 50 years [
The clinical aspect was described only in 520 patients (25.50%). The Ulcerative budding was the most common sign in 62.31% of cases, followed by the bleeding 20.19%, polypoid lesions 13.65% and induration 3.85%. N’Dah et al., in their series have found ulcerative budding to be the main symptoms in 79.43% of cases, followed by polypoid lesions (9.21%) and induration was the fourth with 5.19% [
Histologically, SCC was the predominant type with 1.687 (81.18%) cases, followed by the ADK with 269 (12.95%) cases. This predominance of the EC was discovered by several African authors. It is notably higher than the value found in the Cameroonian coast (72, 07%) [
Cervical cancer is a common disease in Cameroon where it is at the forefront of genital cancers in women. Squamous cell carcinoma is still the main histological type. Cervical cancer is preventable and curable in the very early stages of the disease. The implementation of a national screening policy, organization HPV vaccination and low cost screening programmes, can help to reduce the impact of cervical cancer in our population.
Engbang Ndamba JeanPaul,Tchente NguefackCharlotte,Owona Manga LéonJules,SimoGodefroy,Essam Sime JeanDaniel,Elono Fouda AndréeMichelle,Essame Oyono JeanLouis,HasigovAlan,11,11, (2016) Epidemiological and Histological Profile of Cervical Cancer in Cameroon: About 2078 Cases. Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,06,232-239. doi: 10.4236/ojog.2016.64029