Presentation patterns of invasive cancer of the cervix: results from Parirenyatwa Oncology and Radiotherapy Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe 1998-2010.

Main objective: The study sought to identify the presentation patterns of invasive uterine cancer of the cervix (CaCx) in Zimbabwe in terms of histology, stage of the disease, ages of patients and socio-economic status.

Design: Retrospective study from 1998 to 2010.

Subjects: All patients who registered for the first time with invasive CaCx over a systematically selected sample period of four years (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010).

Setting: The main referral Radiotherapy and Oncology centre in Harare the capital city of Zimbabwe.

Results: Majority of patients (91.75%) presented with squamous cell carcinoma, 5.5% presented with adenocarcinomas and 2.75% presented with other types of histology. Late presentation was noted with the majority of the patients (89%) presenting with stage IIB and above. The common ages of patients at presentation were between 40 to 60 years. The majority of the patients (59.5%) were of low socio-economic status.

Conclusion: In the developed countries CaCx is reducing in frequency, presentation tends to be early, treatment effective and there is decreasing mortality rate from this disease. However in developing countries the situation is not as positive and the disease remains a major concern. This is shown by the presentation pattern of patients with invasive CaCx in Zimbabwe. The patients are shown to present with late stage disease of the squamous cell type, primarily in the age ranges of 40 to 60 years and with the majority of the patients belonging to the low socio-economic status group.