M. Fatunmbi1,2, M. Masika1,2, A. Saunders2, C. Agbakwuru3, B. Chugani3, M. Jimoh3, O. Ilegbune3, A. Adewale3, O. Akinyemiju3, C. Nwogu1,2,3 1State University Of New York At Buffalo,Buffalo, NY, USA 2Roswell Park Cancer Institute,Buffalo, NY, USA 3Lakeshore Cancer Center,Lagos, , Nigeria
Introduction:
There is significant disparity in cancer registration between high income countries (HIC) and low- to middle-income countries (LMIC). While population-based cancer registries provide a superior sample compared to hospital-based cancer registries, the utility of hospital-based cancer registries has been supported. Despite great efforts being made by international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and its subsidiaries, there is still a great deficit in the number and quality of cancer registries in Africa. Development of high quality cancer registries has proven challenging for various reasons, including resource limitations restricting population access to healthcare facilities, lack of trained personnel, and inadequate funding for cancer control efforts from all government levels. In addition, there is an under appreciation of the cancer burden, thus an under appreciation of the role registries play in recognizing and alleviating the burden. Therefore, there is a recognized need for the establishment of more cancer registries in LMICs.
Methods:
Lakeshore Cancer Center (LCC) in Lagos, Nigeria sought to establish a hospital-based registry to allow for a proper assessment of the cancer burden of its patient population. The aim was to begin collection of data, make it accessible to other hospitals and institutions, and ultimately to expand to a regional population-based cancer registry. A retrospective review of electronic and paper records of patients who presented at LCC from July 2014 to June 2016 was performed. Patient demographics, diagnoses, stages and treatments were captured, and initially coded in Excel for preliminary review. Descriptive statistics were analyzed. CanReg5 (International Association for Cancer Registration, Lyon, France), an open source application, was then customized to capture selected data elements in a hospital-based cancer registry based at LCC.
Results:
Since July 2014, LCC has seen an increase in the number of new cancer cases. The total number of cases captured was 226. Evaluation of patients by disease site revealed that the most common cancer site was breast (38%), followed by prostate (12%), colorectal (8%) and cervical (6%). A combination of gynecological, upper GI, CNS, hematological and renal cancer constituted 25% of diseases sites. The majority of patients also presented with stage III (24%) or IV (61%) cancers (Figure 1).
Conclusions:
These results reflect early hospital-based cancer registry data from a cancer center in an LMIC. The data reveals that 85% of patients treated at LCC present at later stages. This highlights a need for developing and strengthening early detection and screening programs.
