Elima Jedy-Agba

Cancer Incidence in Nigeria: A Report from Population-based Cancer Registries

INTRODUCTION Cancer has become a major source of morbidity and mortality globally. Despite the threat that cancer poses to public health in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), few countries in this region have data on cancer incidence. In this paper, we present estimates of cancer incidence in Nigeria based on data from 2 population-based cancer registries (PBCR) that are part of the Nigerian national cancer registry program. MATERIALS AND METHODS We analyzed data from 2 population based cancer registries in Nigeria, the Ibadan Population Based Cancer Registry (IBCR) and the Abuja Population Based Cancer Registry (ABCR) covering a 2 year period 2009-2010. Data are reported by registry, gender and in age groups. We present data on the age specific incidence rates of all invasive cancers and report age standardized rates of the most common cancers stratified by gender in both registries. RESULTS The age standardized incidence rate for all invasive cancers from the IBCR was 66.4 per 100000 men and 130.6 per 100000 women. In ABCR it was 58.3 per 100000 for men and 138.6 per 100000 for women. A total of 3393 cancer cases were reported by the IBCR. Of these cases, 34% (1155) were seen among males and 66% (2238) in females. In Abuja over the same period, 1128 invasive cancers were reported. 33.6% (389) of these cases were in males and 66.4% (768) in females. Mean age of diagnosis of all cancers in men for Ibadan and Abuja were 51.1 and 49.9 years respectively. For women, mean age of diagnosis of all cancers in Ibadan and Abuja were 49.1 and 45.4 respectively. Breast and cervical cancer were the commonest cancers among women and prostate cancer the most common among men. Breast cancer age standardized incidence rate (ASR) at the IBCR was 52.0 per 100000 in IBCR and 64.6 per 100000 in ABCR. Cervical cancer ASR at the IBCR was 36.0 per 100000 and 30.3 per 100000 at the ABCR. The observed differences in incidence rates of breast, cervical and prostate cancer between Ibadan and Abuja, were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION Cancer incidence data from two population based cancer registries in Nigeria suggests substantial increase in incidence of breast cancer in recent times. This paper highlights the need for high quality regional cancer registries in Nigeria and other SSA countries.

Stage at diagnosis of breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND The incidence of breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa is relatively low, but as survival from the disease in the region is poor, mortality rates are as high as in high-income countries. Stage at diagnosis is a major contributing factor to poor survival from breast cancer. We aimed to do a systematic review and meta-analysis on stage at diagnosis of breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa to examine trends over time, and investigate sources of variations across the region. METHODS We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Knowledge, and Africa-Wide Information to identify studies on breast cancer stage at diagnosis in sub-Saharan African women published before Jan 1, 2014, and in any language. Random-effects meta-analyses were done to investigate between-study heterogeneity in percentage of late-stage breast cancer (stage III/IV), and meta-regression analyses to identify potential sources of variation. Percentages of women with late-stage breast cancer at diagnosis in sub-Saharan Africa were compared with similar estimates for black and white women in the USA from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. FINDINGS 83 studies were included, which consisted of 26 788 women from 17 sub-Saharan African countries. There was wide between-study heterogeneity in the percentage of late-stage disease at diagnosis (median 74·7%, range 30·3-100%, I2=93·3%, p<0·0001). The percentage of patients with late-stage disease at diagnosis did not vary by region in black women, but was lower in non-black women from southern Africa than in black women in any region (absolute difference [AD] from black women in western Africa [reference group] -18·1%, 95% CI -28·2 to -8·0), and higher for populations from mixed (urban and rural) settings rather than urban settings (13·2%, 5·7 to 20·7, in analyses restricted to black women). The percentage of patients with late-stage disease at diagnosis in black Africans decreased over time (-10·5%, -19·3 to -1·6; for 2000 or later vs 1980 or before), but it was still higher around 2010 than it was in white and black women in the USA 40 years previously. INTERPRETATION Strategies for early diagnosis of breast cancer should be regarded as a major priority by cancer control programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. FUNDING None.

The role of hospital-based cancer registries in low and middle income countries—The Nigerian Case Study

BACKGROUND The incidence of cancer continues to rise all over the world and current projections show that there will be 1.27 million new cases and almost 1 million deaths by 2030. In view of the rising incidence of cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, urgent steps are needed to guide appropriate policy, health sector investment and resource allocation. We posit that hospital based cancer registries (HBCR) are fundamental sources of information on the frequent cancer sites in limited resource regions where population level data is often unavailable. In regions where population based cancer registries are not in existence, HBCR are beneficial for policy and planning. MATERIALS AND METHODS Nineteen of twenty-one cancer registries in Nigeria met the definition of HBCR, and from these registries, we requested data on cancer cases recorded from January 2009 to December 2010. 16 of the 19 registries (84%) responded. Data on year hospital was established; year cancer registry was established, no. of pathologists and types of oncology services available in each tertiary health facility were shown. Analysis of relative frequency of cancers in each HBCR, the basis of diagnosis recorded in the HBCR and the total number of cases recorded by gender was carried out. RESULTS The total number of cancers registered in these 11 hospital based cancer registries in 2009 and 2010 was 6484. The number of new cancer cases recorded annually in these hospital based cancer registries on average was 117 cases in males and I77 cases in females. Breast and cervical cancer were the most common cancers seen in women while prostate cancer was the commonest among men seen in these tertiary hospitals. CONCLUSION Information provided by HBCR is beneficial and can be utilized for the improvement of cancer care delivery systems in low and middle income countries where there are no population based cancer registries.

Developing National Cancer Registration in Developing Countries - Case Study of the Nigerian National System of Cancer Registries.

The epidemiological transition in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has given rise to a concomitant increase in the incidence of non-communicable diseases including cancers. Worldwide, cancer registries have been shown to be critical for the determination of cancer burden, conduct of research, and in the planning and implementation of cancer control measures. Cancer registration though vital is often neglected in SSA owing to competing demands for resources for healthcare. We report the implementation of a system for representative nation-wide cancer registration in Nigeria – the Nigerian National System of Cancer Registries (NSCR). The NSCR coordinates the activities of cancer registries in Nigeria, strengthens existing registries, establishes new registries, complies and analyses data, and makes these freely available to researchers and policy makers. We highlight the key challenges encountered in implementing this strategy and how they were overcome. This report serves as a guide for other low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) wishing to expand cancer registration coverage in their countries and highlights the training, mentoring, scientific and logistic support, and advocacy that are crucial to sustaining cancer registration programs in LMIC.

Qualitative study of barriers to cervical cancer screening among Nigerian women

Objectives To explore the barriers to cervical cancer screening, focusing on religious and cultural factors, in order to inform group-specific interventions that may improve uptake of cervical cancer screening programmes. Design We conducted four focus group discussions among Muslim and Christian women in Nigeria. Setting Discussions were conducted in two hospitals, one in the South West and the other in the North Central region of Nigeria. Participants 27 Christian and 22 Muslim women over the age of 18, with no diagnosis of cancer. Results Most participants in the focus group discussions had heard about cervical cancer except Muslim women in the South Western region who had never heard about cervical cancer. Participants believed that wizardry, multiple sexual partners and inserting herbs into the vagina cause cervical cancer. Only one participant knew about the human papillomavirus. Among the Christian women, the majority of respondents had heard about cervical cancer screening and believed that it could be used to prevent cervical cancer. Participants mentioned religious and cultural obligations of modesty, gender of healthcare providers, fear of disclosure of results, fear of nosocomial infections, lack of awareness, discrimination at hospitals, and need for spousal approval as barriers to uptake of screening. These barriers varied by religion across the geographical regions. Conclusions Barriers to cervical cancer screening vary by religious affiliations. Interventions to increase cervical cancer awareness and screening uptake in multicultural and multireligious communities need to take into consideration the varying cultural and religious beliefs in order to design and implement effective cervical cancer screening intervention programmes.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of AIDS associated malignancies among people living with HIV in Nigeria

IntroductionThe epidemic of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa varies significantly across countries in the region with high prevalence in Southern Africa and Nigeria. Cancer is increasingly identified as a complication of HIV infection with higher incidence and mortality in this group than in the general population. Without cancer prevention strategies, improved cancer treatment alone would be an insufficient response to this increasing burden among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Although previous studies have noted low levels of awareness of cancers in sub-Saharan Africa none has examined the knowledge and perceptions of cancer among people living with HIV/AIDS.MethodsFocus group discussions (FGD) and Key Informant Interviews (KII) were carried out in 4 high volume tertiary care institutions that offer HIV care and treatment in Nigeria. FGD and KII assessed participants’ knowledge of cancer, attitudes towards cancer risk and cancer screening practices.ResultsThe mean age (SD) of the FGD participants was 38 (2.8) years. Most participants had heard about cancer and considered it a fatal disease but displayed poor knowledge of the causes of cancer in general and of AIDs associated cancers in particular. PLHIV in Nigeria expressed fear, denial and disbelief about their perceived cancer risk. Some of the participants had heard about cancer screening but very few participants had ever been screened.ConclusionOur findings of poor knowledge of cancer among PLHIV in Nigeria indicate the need for health care providers and the government to intervene by developing primary cancer prevention strategies for this population.

Influence of Spirituality and Modesty on Acceptance of Self-Sampling for Cervical Cancer Screening

Introduction Whereas systematic screening programs have reduced the incidence of cervical cancer in developed countries, the incidence remains high in developing countries. Among several barriers to uptake of cervical cancer screening, the roles of religious and cultural factors such as modesty have been poorly studied. Knowledge about these factors is important because of the potential to overcome them using strategies such as self-collection of cervico-vaginal samples. In this study we evaluate the influence of spirituality and modesty on the acceptance of self-sampling for cervical cancer screening. Methodology We enrolled 600 participants in Nigeria between August and October 2014 and collected information on spirituality and modesty using two scales. We used principal component analysis to extract scores for spirituality and modesty and logistic regression models to evaluate the association between spirituality, modesty and preference for self-sampling. All analyses were performed using STATA 12 (Stata Corporation, College Station, Texas, USA). Results Some 581 (97%) women had complete data for analysis. Most (69%) were married, 50% were Christian and 44% were from the south western part of Nigeria. Overall, 19% (110/581) of the women preferred self-sampling to being sampled by a health care provider. Adjusting for age and socioeconomic status, spirituality, religious affiliation and geographic location were significantly associated with preference for self-sampling, while modesty was not significantly associated. The multivariable OR (95% CI, p-value) for association with self-sampling were 0.88 (0.78–0.99, 0.03) for spirituality, 1.69 (1.09–2.64, 0.02) for religious affiliation and 0.96 (0.86–1.08, 0.51) for modesty. Conclusion Our results show the importance of taking cultural and religious beliefs and practices into consideration in planning health interventions like cervical cancer screening. To succeed, public health interventions and the education to promote it must be related to the target population and its preferences.

Burden of Cancers Attributable to Infectious Agents in Nigeria: 2012–2014

Introduction Infections by certain viruses, bacteria, and parasites have been identified as risk factors for some cancers. In Nigeria, like many other developing countries, infections remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. While there are data on the incidence of different cancers in Nigeria, there has been no study of cancers attributable to infections. This study was carried out to determine the burden of cancers attributable to infections using data from two population-based cancer registries (PBCRs) in Nigeria. Methods We obtained data on cancers associated with EBV, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B and C, HIV, HHV8, Helicobacter pylori, and Schistosoma spp. from the databases of Abuja and Enugu cancer registries in Nigeria. We used population-attributable fraction for infections-associated cancers in developing countries that are based on prevalence data and relative risk estimates from previous studies. Results The PBCRs reported 4,336 incident cancer cases [age standardized incidence rate (ASR) 113.9 per 100,000] from 2012 to 2014, of which 1,627 (37.5%) were in males and 2,709 (62.5%) were in females. Some 1,030 (23.8%) of these cancers were associated with infections (ASR 44.4 per 100,000), while 951 (22.0%) were attributable to infections (ASR 41.6 per 100,000). Cancers of the cervix (n = 392, ASR 28.3 per 100,000) and liver (n = 145, ASR 3.4 per 100,000); and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (n = 110, ASR 2.5 per 100,000) were the commonest infections-associated cancers overall. The commonest infectious agents associated with cancers in this population were HPV, EBV, hepatitis B and C, HIV, and HHV8. Conclusion Our results suggest that 23.8% of incident cancer cases in this population were associated with infections, while 22.0% were attributable to infections. The infections attributable cancers are potentially preventable with strategies, such as vaccination, risk factor modification, or anti-infective treatment.

Determinants of stage at diagnosis of breast cancer in Nigerian women: sociodemographic, breast cancer awareness, health care access and clinical factors

PurposeAdvanced stage at diagnosis is a common feature of breast cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), contributing to poor survival rates. Understanding its determinants is key to preventing deaths from this cancer in SSA.MethodsWithin the Nigerian Integrative Epidemiology of Breast Cancer Study, a multicentred case–control study on breast cancer, we studied factors affecting stage at diagnosis of cases, i.e. women diagnosed with histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer between January 2014 and July 2016 at six secondary and tertiary hospitals in Nigeria. Stage was assessed using clinical and imaging methods. Ordinal logistic regression was used to examine associations of sociodemographic, breast cancer awareness, health care access and clinical factors with odds of later stage (I, II, III or IV) at diagnosis.ResultsA total of 316 women were included, with a mean age (SD) of 45.4 (11.4) years. Of these, 94.9% had stage information: 5 (1.7%), 92 (30.7%), 157 (52.4%) and 46 (15.3%) were diagnosed at stages I, II, III and IV, respectively. In multivariate analyses, lower educational level (odds ratio (OR) 2.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 5.29), not believing in a cure for breast cancer (1.81: 1.09, 3.01), and living in a rural area (2.18: 1.05, 4.51) were strongly associated with later stage, whilst age at diagnosis, tumour grade and oestrogen receptor status were not. Being Muslim (vs. Christian) was associated with lower odds of later stage disease (0.46: 0.22, 0.94).ConclusionOur findings suggest that factors that are amenable to intervention concerning breast cancer awareness and health care access, rather than intrinsic tumour characteristics, are the strongest determinants of stage at diagnosis in Nigerian women.

Comparability, diagnostic validity and completeness of Nigerian cancer registries.

BACKGROUND Like many countries in Africa, Nigeria is improving the quality and coverage of its cancer surveillance. This work is essential to address this growing category of chronic diseases, but is made difficult by economic, geographic and other challenges. PURPOSE To evaluate the completeness, comparability and diagnostic validity of Nigerias cancer registries. METHODS Completeness was measured using childrens age-specific incidence (ASI) and an established metric based on a modified Poisson distribution with regional comparisons. We used a registry questionnaire as well as percentages of death-certificate-only cases, morphologically verified cases, and case registration errors to examine comparability and diagnostic validity. RESULTS Among the childrens results, we found that over half of all cancers were non-Hodgkin lymphoma. There was also evidence of incompleteness. Considering the regional completeness comparisons, we found potential evidence of cancer-specific general incompleteness as well as what appears to be incompleteness due to inability to diagnose specific cancers. We found that registration was generally comparable, with some exceptions. Since autopsies are not common across Nigeria, coding for both them and death-certificate-only cases was also rare. With one exception, registries in our study had high rates of morphological verification of female breast, cervical and prostate cancers. CONCLUSIONS Nigerias registration procedures were generally comparable to each other and to international standards, and we found high rates of morphological verification, suggesting high diagnostic validity. There was, however, evidence of incompleteness.