Epidemiology and diagnosis profile of digestive cancer in teaching hospital campus of lome: About 250 cases

Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the epidemiology and diagnosis of digestive cancers in Togo. Method: A retrospective descriptive study conducted from January 2005 to December 2012, examined the records of all patients in both sexes older than 15 years, hospitalized for gastrointestinal cancers in the gastroenterology department of the teaching hospital Campus of Lomé. Results: We identified 250 cases of gastrointestinal cancer over a period of 8 years (31.25 cases/year). The average age was 52.8 years with a male predominance. The liver is the organ of choice (66.4%), followed by the stomach (14%), and esophagus (9.6%). Cancer of the esophagus affected the average age of 57.1 years subjects. The sex ratio was 1. Alcohol and tobacco, were the main risk factors in 54.17% of our subjects. Preferential seat was the middle third of the esophagus. Ulcerative and hemorrhagic proliferations were the most frequent. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most frequent. For gastric cancer, the mean age was 58.82 years. Disease history was gastric ulcer (2.86%) and alcohol and tobacco (11.4%). Lesions were often antral (65.71%). Adenocarcinoma was the most common histological type (93.75%). Colorectal cancers were less frequent (2.8%). Hepatocellular carcinoma was the most common cancer of the liver (91%). The average age was 50.4 years. HBV was diagnosed in 41.56% of the cases. Portal vein thrombosis was present in 52.17%. The α-fetoprotein was high (> 400 ng/ml) in 90.96%. Pancreatic cancer was found in 5.2% of cases with a mean age of 55.61 years. Conclusion: Gastrointestinal cancers are frequent in Togo, especially in the male subject. Viral hepatitis B and alcohol intoxication and tobacco are the main risk factors. The prognosis is disastrous because of the late diagnosis.