Gastric carcinoma at Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Addis Ababa.

OBJECTIVE

To provide a baseline epidemiologic information on gastric cancer from Ethiopia based on hospital data.

DESIGN

Prospective study.

SETTING

Department of Surgery, Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa.

SUBJECT

Ninety six patients treated for gastric cancer from 1992-1996.

INTERVENTIONS

Data including demographic and clinical features, pathology of the disease and treatment outcome were analysed on 96 of 125 cases of gastric cancer.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Duration of symptoms, diagnosis and stage of disease at the time of definitive diagnosis, and postoperative mortality.

RESULTS

Sixty eight patients were males and 28 females. The mean age was 48.2 +/- 12.7 (range 20-73) years. The histopathology was adenocarcinoma with a Laurence intestinal type in 89 cases. Majority of the cases (90%) had advanced (stage III-IV) tumours. More than forty four per cent of cases had resectable lesions. Postoperative mortality rate was 18.6%. Twenty seven of the 70 cases operated on (57 survived the operations) could be followed up only for less than one year.

CONCLUSION

This study, although based on the relative frequency in a hospital material, indicates that gastric cancer is not rare in Ethiopia. Patients appear to present late with advanced cancers.