41.3% of cancers in JUTH affect breast, cervical and prostate —Experts

Breast, cervical, prostate cancers account for 41.3 per cent of cancers seen at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) over a 27-year period, a study has found.

Researchers’ analysis of 6,915 cancer cases at the hospital’s cancer registry over the period indicated 2891 males and 4024 females, with an average cancer rate of 256 cases per year.

The survey found the most frequent cancers at the hospital were those of the breast, cervical, prostate, lymphoma and liver cancers in decreasing order respectively.

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The study, which analysed the distribution of cancer based on age, gender, and anatomical site, stated that the top 10 cancers accounted for 74 per cent of all cancers, while top five cases accounted for 55.8 per cent of cancers.

These top five cancers are breast, cervix, prostate, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and liver in descending order respectively.

The 2019 study published in the Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research was entitled “Burden of Cancer in Plateau State, Central Nigeria: A 27-Year Report from a Tertiary Hospital-Based Cancer Registry”.

 According to the study, breast and cervical cancers jointly accounted for 51.84 per cent of all female cancers and 30.81 per cent of all cancer at the hospital.

Although the proportion of those with breast cancer increased with age and decline sharply after 60 years, they stated that a significant proportion of breast cancers were in women younger than 30 years.

According to them, “this study shows that breast cancer has been recorded in women less than 20 years of age. This young age group is frequently associated with triple-negative breast cancers, an aggressive subtype of cancer.”

They declared that the high rate of infectious agents in Nigeria as in many tropical areas could be responsible for the prevalence of cancer of the cervix, liver, colorectal, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and stomach.

The researchers, however, said that the cancer pattern at the hospital reflects what is seen in most Sub- Sahara region of Africa.

They declared: “Screening should be encouraged in patients at risk to aid prevention and early detection. Allocation of resources to this end should be emphasized.”

Cancer has become an emerging disease in the developing world owing to the control of infectious agents and increase longevity.

In developed nations such as the U.S.A and some European countries, the five commonest cancers are those of the lung, breast, prostate, colorectal and urinary bladder in this order.

The lack of accurate data for the incidence of cancer in Nigeria like other African countries makes Health planning a challenging task. In Nigeria the near absence of national, regional and statewide cancer registries has made health planning more precarious.