Katagum Dauda A, Ezenkwa Uchenna S, Achanya Sunday E, Lawan Aliyu I, Suleiman Dauda E, Kadaura Mairo U, Kabir Abba, Adamu Adamu I, Modu Abubakar Kolomi, Usman Hadiza, George Sophia H L, Schlumbrecht Matthew, Audu Bala M
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Federal University of Health Sciences/Federal Medical Center, Azare, Nigeria.
Department of Histopathology, Federal University of Health Sciences/Federal Medical Center Azare, Azare, Nigeria.
Front Oncol. 2025 Mar 18;15:1420113. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1420113. eCollection 2025.
The burden of female genital tract cancers in low-and middle-income countries (LIMC) is not yet well investigated. Although available studies are few, they are mainly based on single institutions. Here, four-year multi-institutional data on gynecologic cancers in northeastern Nigeria were examined to determine their distribution by age and subtype.
This is a cross-sectional descriptive study using available data on histologically diagnosed gynecologic cancers archived in the pathology departments and/or cancer registries of six tertiary hospitals in northeastern Nigeria over four years. Alongside tumor type (according to site), patient age and presenting complaints were also documented. Descriptive statistics were used to present categorical variables as proportions, while quantitative variables of age were presented as medians.
A total of 863 gynecologic cancers were included in this study. The median age was 50 years (3 - 95 years) with a peak at 40 - 49 years. The uterine cervix was the most common site of cancer (66.6%, 575/863), while uterine corpus (15.5%, 134/863) and ovarian cancers (14.8%; 128/863) were nearly equal in proportion. Squamous cell cancer was the commonest histotype overall, while ovarian cancers had a preponderance of epithelial tumors in 67.9% (87/128) over sex cord stromal (12.5%; 16/128) and germ cell (9.4%, 12/128) tumors. The most common symptom was abnormal vaginal bleeding (38%) followed by abdominal swelling (21.1%) and foul-smelling vaginal discharge (14.1%). Population-based data also showed high parity among women in the region, ranging from 4 births to 7 births per woman in a reproductive lifetime (total fertility rate, TFR).
The spectrum of cancers of the female genital tract in this study mirrors the population demographics characterized by a high proportion of young women in their reproductive age. Efforts to reduce the burden of this disease are urgently warranted.
低收入和中等收入国家（LIMC）女性生殖道癌症的负担尚未得到充分研究。虽然现有研究较少，且主要基于单一机构。在此，对尼日利亚东北部地区四年间多机构妇科癌症数据进行了研究，以确定其按年龄和亚型的分布情况。
这是一项横断面描述性研究，使用了尼日利亚东北部六家三级医院病理科和/或癌症登记处存档的四年间组织学确诊的妇科癌症可用数据。除肿瘤类型（根据部位）外，还记录了患者年龄和就诊主诉。描述性统计用于将分类变量表示为比例，而年龄的定量变量表示为中位数。
本研究共纳入863例妇科癌症。中位年龄为50岁（3 - 95岁），40 - 49岁为发病高峰。子宫颈是最常见的癌症发生部位（66.6%，575/863），而子宫体癌（15.5%，134/863）和卵巢癌（14.8%；128/863）比例相近。鳞状细胞癌是总体上最常见的组织学类型，而卵巢癌中上皮性肿瘤占优势，为67.9%（87/128），高于性索间质肿瘤（12.5%；16/128）和生殖细胞肿瘤（9.4%，12/128）。最常见的症状是异常阴道出血（38%），其次是腹部肿胀（21.1%）和恶臭的阴道分泌物（14.1%）。基于人群的数据还显示该地区女性的生育胎次较高，每位女性一生的生育次数在4次至7次之间（总生育率，TFR）。
本研究中女性生殖道癌症谱反映了该人群的人口统计学特征，即育龄年轻女性比例较高。迫切需要努力减轻这种疾病的负担。
