Pattern of genitourinary tract cancers in southern Ethiopia: A retrospective document review

Abstract

Background: Genitourinary tract (urologic) cancers are substantially increasing and become a major public issue in both industrialized and developing countries. Despite the increasing burden of genitourinary tract cancer (GUTC), inadequate attention is being given for early detection and treatment services due to insufficient evidence on the burden of urologic cancer cases in Ethiopia.

Objective: To describe the epidemiologic trends of genitourinary cancer in southern Ethiopia retrospectively at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (HUCSH) between 2013 and 2019.

Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective chart review was conducted among patients with a diagnosis of genitourinary cancer between 2013 and 2019 at HUCSH. The full review of registration record (logbook) at the unit of oncology and pathology was done and yielded a total of 207 GUT cancer cases in the given above years. The data were collected using a checklist from February to May 2020. Epi-data version 3.1 was used to enter data, and SPSS version 20 was used to analyze it. We did a descriptive and trend analysis.

Result: A total of 207genitourinary tract (GUT) cancer cases were identified at HUCSH. Among all, 165 (79.1%) were male, with male to female ratio of 3.9:1. The overall GUT cancer caseload was increasing year to year and doubled in 2019 compared to 2013 in the majority of the cancer types in this study. The most prevalent cancer cases were bladder cancer 96 (46.4%) and prostate cancer 44 (21.3%).The average time between the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis of bladder cancer was 18 months.  In all cases of the identified GUT cancer, patients were diagnosed mostly at advanced stage III and IV. The trends of all GUT cancer were progressively increasing year to year.

Conclusion: The GUT cancer has been a great burden and highly increasing in the last 7 years with high incidence of bladder cancer types. Routine awareness creation, early detection, registration and follow up are critical to prevent or to treat cancer cases early.