ABSTRACT
Background: Gastrointestinal cancers are among the top 10 cancers and causes of cancer death worldwide. Given the absence of cancer registry in Madagascar and absence of epidemiological study of gastrointestinal cancer in the province of Fianarantsoa, our aim was to describe the epidemiological aspect of gastrointestinal cancers at the University Hospital of Tambohobe Fianarantsoa.Methods: Authors have conducted a descriptive retrospective study over a three-year period from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017 at the University Hospital of Tambohobe Fianarantsoa (in oncology, internal medicine and visceral surgery departments). The variables analyzed were age, gender, tumor location.Results: Authors have collected 74 cases of gastrointestinal cancers. There were 46 males 62.16% and 28 females 37.84%. The mean age was 56.30±12.10 years old. The predominant age groups were 45-55 years. Authors found colorectal cancer in 43%, followed by liver carcinoma in 19%, then pancreatic cancer 14%, esophageal cancer 13%, gastric cancer 8%, duodenum cancer 3%.Conclusions: Gastrointestinal cancers at the hospital of Tambohobe Fianarantsoa affect young people, especially the male gender with a predominance of colorectal and liver cancer.So, it is important to continue the vaccination against hepatitis viral B infection and to implement a colorectal cancer screening program.
ABSTRACT
Background: Malignant hemopathies constitute a group of pathologies having in common the anomalies of the bone marrow or of the lymphatic system cells. In developed countries, the number and actual distribution of cancers is provided by cancer registries. In Madagascar there is no effective cancer registry and only two studies on malignant hemopathies have been carried out to date, but neither has described their epidemiology and clinical aspects. Thus, we aimed to describe the epidemiology and clinical aspects of malignant hemopathies managed in the Medical Oncology Unit of the Military Hospital of Antananarivo.Methods: It was a cross-sectional and descriptive study carried out at this unit from 1st December 2012 to 31st August 2015 (33 months). Authors included all patients followed, then excluded those without pathologic evidence, cases of monoclonal gammapathy of unknown significance and cases of solid cancers.Results: We followed up 57 cases of malignant hemopathies. The mean age was 49.39±15.46 years and the sex ratio was 1.71. Superficial lymphadenopathy was the most frequent warning signs (31.58%) and lymphomas were most represented (52.63%). There was a significant association between warning signs and diagnosis (p value <0.001).Conclusions: Present results are grossly similar to those of other African authors. Present results are distinguished by a low proportion of chronic myeloid leukemia and a very low proportion of chronic lymphocytic leukemia compared to literature data. The effectiveness of the cancer registry will allow us to improve the knowledge about frequency and current distribution of cancer in Madagascar.