Female genital tract cancers in Sagamu, southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: To describe pattern of female genital tract cancers seen at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Nigeria.
Design: This is a retrospective review of all cases of female genital tract cancers managed at the Gynaecology department of OOUTH, Sagamu, Nigeria.
Setting: OOUTH is a tertiary health institution of the State’s university and it takes referrals from within and outside the State.
Subjects: Case records of all female genital tract cancers managed between January 2004 and December 2013 were retrieved and analysed using SPSS version 16.0.
Results: There were 2059 women treated for various gynaecologic conditions, 179 (8.7%) were cases of female genital tract cancers and 161 records were available for analysis. Cervical cancer constituted the commonest (51.6%), followed by ovarian (35.4%), endometrial (9.9%), and choriocarcinoma (1.9%). There were no cases of vaginal and fallopian tube cancers. The lowest mean age was found in choriocarcinoma (36.60 ±4.50 years) and highest in vulvar cancer (70.00 ±2.82 years). The mean ages for cervical, endometrial and ovarian cancers were (51.98±12.39), (65.38±7.24), and (54.42±10.51) years respectively. Similarly the least mean parity was found in choriocarcinoma (2.33±1.52), and the highest in vulvar cancer (6.00±1.44). The mean parity for cervical, endometrial, and ovarian were (4.10±1.49), (3.06±1.48), and (3.72±1.68) respectively. These differences are statistically significant, age; F= 7.61, p<0.0001, and parity; F= 3.27, p= 0.013.
Conclusion: Incidence of cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancers remain high and presentations are at late stages. There is a need to improve on cervical cancer screening, and for the attending physicians to improve on their indices of suspicions as regards endometrial and ovarian cancers.