Practice of Oncology in Low- income Setting: A Review of Four Years Activities in Togo

Abstract

Purpose: Until 2016, there was no oncologist in Togo. This study reviewed the first four years of activities in the practice of clinical oncology in the country to provide the cancer profile, the treatment, and outcomes of patients.Methods: We performed a retrospective descriptive study of patients diagnosed with cancer seen in oncology in Togo from March 2016 to March 2020. Data on presentation, staging, treatment, and outcomes were reviewed. Statistics were computed using SPSS.Results: A total of 897 patients were included. There were 625 women (69.7%) and 272 men (30.3%). The mean age at diagnosis was 53.48 years for men and 52.39 for women and more than half of patients were under 60 years. A cancer diagnosis was histologically confirmed in 81.2% of patients. For both sexes, breast cancer was the commonest followed by cervix cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate, and stomach cancer. In men, prostate cancer ranked first followed respectively by gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. The most common cancer in women was breast cancer followed by cervix cancer. Majority of patients (60%) presented at a late stage. 531 patients (59.2%) received at least one cancer therapy modality but more than half of treated patients did not complete their treatment. After fifty-eight months of follow-up, only 132 patients (14.7%) in the all-study population are alive. Conclusion: This study describes the epidemiology and oncologic treatment in Togolese patients. Breast and Prostate are the leading cancer diagnoses in our population. Most patients presented at an advanced stage and the treatment was palliative in a majority of patients. There is an urgent need for early detection of cancer in Togo.

Nursing Care in Patient with Advanced Cancer: The Experience of the Adult Oncology Unit of Lomé

“…In Togo, more than 5000 cancer news cases were diagnosed in 2020 [2]. Like in other sub-Saharan African countries, most of the Togolese patients presented with advanced-stage disease [3]. More than 3500 cancer-related deaths were in the country in 2020 [2].…”