Predictors of survival outcomes among patients with gastric cancer in a leading tertiary, teaching and referral hospital in Kenya

Gastric Cancer at a Nigerian Tertiary Referral Center: Experiences With Establishing an Institutional Cancer Registry

BACKGROUND

In Nigeria, gastric cancer is the 10th most common and 9th most deadly malignancy. The limited availability of robust data makes further characterizing it challenging. The objective of this study was to assess the presentation, and management of gastric cancer in Nigeria using an institutional cancer registry.

METHODS

We reviewed a prospective database of patients diagnosed with any gastric cancer at a single tertiary referral center over 15 years (2007-2022). Patients with suspected gastric cancer were surveyed for sociodemographics and then added to the institutional gastric cancer registry. Thereafter, periodic chart review and phone call was used to obtain investigation results, and survival data, respectively. Only patients with complete histopathology were included in analysis.

RESULTS

138 patients met inclusion criteria (mean age 55.3 years, 68.8% male). Patients typically presented with weight loss (119, 86.2%) and anorexia (92, 66.7%). Blood work (132, 95.7%) and ultrasound (80, 57.9%) were the most common investigations. Most fully staged patients presented with metastatic disease (39, 90.2%). Patients underwent at least one treatment modality (109, 79.0%), and most 54 (49.5%) underwent both chemotherapy and surgery. Patients undergoing surgery usually had resection of their tumor (58, 67.4%). The median time of follow-up was 45.6 months, and 51.4% (71) of patients were dead at that time point.

CONCLUSION

Our gastric cancer database identified that most patients present with advanced disease and are undergoing at least one treatment modality. The next steps include initiatives to strengthen the quality of registry data, identify high-risk patients, and provide timely treatment.

An assessment of survival outcomes among ovarian cancer patients at the National and Referral Hospital in Kenya

BACKGROUND

Ovarian cancer has been shown to have poor survival outcomes attributed to late presentation. In Kenya, information on the survival outcomes of ovarian cancer patients is scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the survival outcomes among patients with ovarian cancer treated at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).

AIMS

A hospital-based retrospective cohort study was performed at KNH to examine the survival outcomes of 112 ovarian cancer patients. The study employed a structured data abstraction tool to acquire patients' relevant socio-demographic and clinical characteristics from the patient's medical records. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 29.0 statistical software. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to determine the survival outcome and predictors of mortality among ovarian cancer patients, respectively.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The mean age of the patients in this study was 51.28 ± 14.24 years. Most patients (59.8%) had evidence of distant metastasis during the follow-up period. One-third (33%) of patients were deceased. The mean-cancer-specific survival time among the study participants was 40.0 ± 3.0 months. The 5-year survival rate was 44%, with most patients experiencing disease progression during the last follow-up. Combination therapy (p < .001) was the only statistically significant predictor of mortality in ovarian cancer patients.

CONCLUSION

The study found that the 5-year survival rate among ovarian cancer patients was poor, with most patients experiencing disease progression during the last follow-up period.