TITLE:
Esophageal Cancer in Sudan: Demographic and Histopathlogical Variations
AUTHORS:
Asma Mahir Hamad, Mohamed Elbagir K. Ahmed, Abdulfattah Abdelgadir, Ikhlas B. Suliman
KEYWORDS:
Esophagus, Cancer, Histopathology, Sudan
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Gastroenterology,
Vol.7 No.3,
March
31,
2017
ABSTRACT: Background:
Sudan is experiencing a growing cancer problem. Esophageal cancer (EC) is a
devastating disease with high mortality. Our objective was to study the
demographic factors and histopathological pattern of EC cancer in Khartoum, Sudan. Methods: In a retrospective
cross-sectional study, the records and histopathology reports of all patients
diagnosed endoscopically as EC and who were referred to Zain center, a
reference histopathology center in Khartoum Sudan, were studied over a 6-month
period. Descriptive and simple statistics were used for analysis. Results: Out
of 74 histopathologically studied patients, 66 (89.2%)
had squamous cell (SCC) cancer
(average age 59 y, mainly females) and 8 (10.8%)
had adenocarcinoma (AC-average age 69 y). The
female to male ratio is 1.5:1. In females with SCC, the tumors mainly located in the upper and
middle thirds of the oesophagus. On the other hand, 6 out of the 8 patients
with AC were men, with the tumors located mainly in the lower third. Conclusions:
In Khartoum, Sudan, esophageal cancer affects females (predominantlySCC) more than males (predominantly AC). It occurs
at a relatively young age, and is predominantly squamous cell in type. No
specific risk factors were identified and this needs further studies.