Conference abstract

Epidemiologic characteristics of top five cancers in Kampala, Uganda

Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2017:6(9).20 Dec 2017.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2017.6.9.491
Archived on: 20 Dec 2017
Contact the corresponding author
Keywords: Kampala cancer registry, CANREG, Uganda
Plenary

Epidemiologic characteristics of top five cancers in Kampala, Uganda

Leocadia Kwagonza1,&, Daniel Kadobera1, Annet Nakaganda2, Joy Kusiima1, Mary Phoebe Amulen3, Sarah Nambooze3, Alex Riolexus Ario1, Henry Wabinga3

1Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program, Kampala, Uganda, 2Uganda Cancer Institute, Kampala, Uganda, 3Kampala Cancer Registry, Kampala, Uganda

&Corresponding author
Leocadia Kwagonza, Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program, Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: Kampala Cancer Registry was established to provide comprehensive data on the burden and trends of cancer to guide decisions on prevention and treatment policies, strategies and interventions in Uganda. We analyzed the registry data between 2009 and 2013 to describe the distribution of the top five cancers, and to describe cancer diagnostic capacity.

Methods: Kampala Cancer Registry collects data on cancer from health facilities, pathology laboratories and other available sources on cancers from residents of Kyadondo County, which includes Kampala and part of Wakiso District. The data are entered into the cancer registration system called CANREG. We extracted data from CANREG for statistical analysis. We calculated incidence rates by dividing the number of newly reported cancer cases by the population at risk for the same year using population projections from 2014 census. Percentage Morphological Verification (PMV) was obtained by dividing the number of cases of a particular cancer diagnosed microscopically by the total number of cases diagnosed.

Results: a total of 8168 new cancer cases were registered; 55% (4522/8168) were among females. Among males, the incidence of prostate cancer increased with increasing age (4/100,000 among 30-39 year old compared to 4617/100,000 among 60+ years old). Kaposi Sarcoma affected mainly the mid-age groups (incidence: 266/100,000). In males, the top five cancers (overall incidence/100,000) were: Prostate (18), kaposi sarcoma (11), esophagus (6), leukemia (3) and liver (3). In females, the top five cancers (overall incidence/100,000) were: Cervix (20), breast (12), kaposi sarcoma (11), esophagus (3) and ovary (3). The overall PMV was 54.3, with Kaposi Sarcoma having the highest at 70% while leukemia had the lowest (29%).

Conclusion: the top two cancers were prostate cancer and Kaposi Sarcoma in males, and breast and cervical cancers in females. Cancer diagnostic capacity needs to be scaled up for more effective cancer control in Kampala.