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Abstract
It has been estimated that 6.67 million women over the age of fifteen (15) years were at risk of developing cervical cancer in Ghana. It is further estimated that 87% of cervical cancer deaths occur in less developed regions. The aim of the study was to determine the survival rate of cervical cancer patients at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana. The study used a retrospective quantitative research design with data from eighty (80) cervical cancer patients who underwent radiotherapy between 2017-2021. A response rate of 0.85 was achieved with a final working sample of 68. A descriptive statistic was used to determine the frequencies and percentages of age, ethnicity, and any other factors that contributed to the survival of the cervical cancer patients. Cox regression, log-rank test and Kaplan Meier were used for the survival analysis. The 5-year survival of patients was 34.2% with 31.7% chance of surviving in the premenopausal age than the menopausal stages (sig.0.017). The peak age of diagnosis was between 40 and 80 years, with a modal age group between 71 and 80 years with a mean age of 63.32±15.733 years. The youngest age at diagnosis was 27 years and the oldest was 104 years. Nearly 22.1% were premenopausal whilst 77.9% were post-menopausal. There were significant differences in survival rates between patients from different age groups when tested using the log-rank test. Women below 50 years had a lower 5-year survival rate compared to those above 50 years. The overall 5-year survival rate among patients with cervical cancer over the studied period was relatively poor compared to developed nations. The survival of cervical cancer patients is indirectly dependent on the stage, size, and histopathology of cancer. Other factors include the availability of effective prevention and treatment, and socio-demographic factors such as age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic parameters
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References
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- National Cancer Institute. 2013. SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Cervic Uteri Cancer [Online]. Available: http://seer.cancer.gov/ statfacts/html/cervix.html
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References
American Cancer Society. (2020). Cancer Facts & Figures 2020 [Online]. Atlanta: American Cancer Society. Available: http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsfigures/ cancerfacts.
Bailey, H.H., Chuang, L.T., DuPont, N.C., Eng, C., Foxhall, L.E., Merrill, J.K., Wollins, D.S., Blanke, C.D., (2016). American society of clinical oncology statement: human papillomavirus vaccination for cancer prevention. Journal of Cliinical Oncology. 34, 1803– 1812 .http://dx.doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2016.67.2014
Brun, J.L, Stoven-Camou, D, Trouette, R, Lopez, M,
Chene, G, Hocké, C. (2003). Survival and prognosis of women with invasive cervical cancer according to age. Gynecol Oncol, 91, 395-401
Cancer Research UK. (2020). Cervical cancer survival statistics [Online]. Available: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/cervix/survival/
Cheah, P.L, Looi, L.M. (1999). Carcinoma of the uterine cervix: a review of its pathology and commentary on the problem in Malaysians. Malaysian Journal of Pathology 21(1): 1 – 15
Chen, T., Jansen, L., Gondos, A, (2012). Survival of cervical cancer patients in Germany in the early 21st century: a period analysis by age, histology, and stage. ActaOncol, 51, 915-21.
Cervical Cancer Action, Progress in Cervical Cancer Prevention: The CCA Report Card, April 2020
Chabra, S., (2016). Cervical cancer preventable, treatable, but continues to kill women. Cervix Cancer 1, 1–2.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2475-3173.1000112
Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), (2021) Population and Housing Census, Ashanti Regional Analytical Report. GSS, Accra, www2.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/2010
Ghazali, A.K., Musa, K.I., Naing, N.N., Mahmood, Z. (2010). Prognostic factors in patients with colorectal cancer at Hospital UniversitiSains Malaysia. Asian Journal of Surgery, 33, 127-33.
Hill, P.C., Cox, B., Nartey, Y., & Philip, C. (2016). Cervical Cancer in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions of Ghana, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1200/JGO.2016.005744
Hongladaromp, W. Tantipalakorn, C., Charoenkwan, K., Srisomboon, J., & Locoregional (2014). Spread and survival of stage IIA versus stage IIA cervical cancer, Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention. 15 887e890
Muhamad, N.A., Kamaluddin, M. A., Adon, M. Y., Noh, M. A., Bakhtiar, M. F., Ibrahim, Tamim, N. S., Aris, T. (2015). Survival rates of cervical cancer patients in Malaysia. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention: APJCP, 16 (7), 3067–3072. https://doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2015.16.7.3067
National Cancer Institute. 2013. SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Cervic Uteri Cancer [Online]. Available: http://seer.cancer.gov/ statfacts/html/cervix.html
Opoku, S., Antwi, W. K., Yarney, J., Vanderpuye, V., Koranteng, I. Donkor, A. (2016). Survival rate of cervical cancer: A five-year review at the National Center for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Korle-Bu, (January), 8–11. https://doi.org/10.15761/NMBI.1000111
Randall, T.C., Ghebre, R., ( 2016). Challenges in prevention and care delivery for women with cervical cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa. Front. Oncol. 6, 160. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2016.00160.
Romus I, Triningsih FE, Mangunsudirdjo S, et al (2013). Clinicopathology significance of p53 and p63 expression in Indonesian cervical squamous cell carcinomas. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 14, 7737-41
Small, W., Bacon, M., Bajaj, A., Chuang, L.T., Fisher, B.J., Harkenrider, M.M., Jhingran,A., Kitchener, H.C., Mileshkin, L.R., Viswanathan, A.N., Gaffney, D.K., (2017). Cervical cancer: a global health crisis. Cancer 123, 2404–2412.
Thomas. A.S, Kidwell. K.M, & Oppong.J.K. (2017). Breast cancer in Ghana: demonstrating the need for population-based cancer registries in low and middle-income countries. Journal of Global Oncology.3, 2–3.
Torre, L. A., Bray, F., Siegel, R. L., Ferlay, J., Lortet-tieulent, J., & Jemal, A. (2015). Global Cancer Statistics, 2012. CA: A Cancer Journal of Clinicians. 65 (2), 87–108. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21262.