Study of prostate cancer screening in a population of employees of a Kinshasa company in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Detection rate and nutritional and geographical risk factors

Objective: To detect prostate cancer in the employees of a Kinshasa company and to identify sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of men with prostate cancer. Material and methods: From September 2004 to December 2005, a cross-sectional, prospective prostate cancer screening study by PSA, digital rectal examination and transrectal ultrasound was conducted in 162 men aged 40 to 70 years. The upper limit of normal for PSA was 2.5 ng/ml. Finger-guided prostatic biopsy was only performed in subjects with suspicious findings (n = 38). Histological examination was performed in the Department of Defense of Armed Forces, Institute of Pathology, at Brugmann teaching hospital and the Kinshasa University Clinics. Results: Four adenocarcinomas, two PIN II and two PIN III were detected, that is a prostate cancer detection rate of 2.5%. Prostate cancer was only detected among men from three of the eight provinces. Two of the men with prostate cancer had a diet rich in animal fats and two had a family history of prostate cancer. The mean PSA in men with prostate cancer was high (17.37 ± 8.56 ng/ml) compared to men without prostate cancer (2.7 ± 4.2 ng/ml). Discussion: The underestimated prostate cancer detection rate of 2.5% is close to that of 2.6 to 3.2% for Caucasians in Europe and America but less than that of 5.1% for the black American population. This study provides a database on prostate cancer in the Democratic Republic of Congo. © 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.