October is National Brest Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. Join in the cause to help women in need today

Ethiopia is home to a growing population of more than 105 million people and is the second most populous country in Africa and is expected to become the ninth most populous country in the world by 2050, with an estimated parallel rise in cancer burden . In Ethiopia, cancer is estimated to account for about 5.8% of total national mortality . Although population-based data do not exist in the country except for Addis Ababa, it is estimated that the annual incidence of cancer is around 60,960 cases and the annual mortality is over 44,000 . For people under the age of 75 years, the risk of being diagnosed with cancer is 11.3% and the risk of dying from the disease is 9.4% a five year prevalence for 2003 to 2008 was 224.2 per 100,000 people . The most prevalent cancers in Ethiopia among the adult population are breast cancer (30.2%), cancer of the cervix (13.4%), and colorectal cancer (5.7%). About two-thirds of reported annual cancer deaths occur among women . Based on 2013 data from the Addis Ababa Cancer Registry, breast cancer accounted for 31.4%, cervical cancer for 14.3% and ovarian cancer for 6.3% of all cancer cases . According to a qualitative study at the only oncology center in the country at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, limited patient awareness along with lack of resources contribute to diagnoses of cancers at advanced stages, which lead to poor patient outcomes . However, patterns of cancer, their stages and risk factors for advanced cancers have not been well studied and documented in Ethiopia, as prior studies have largely focused on communicable diseases, such as AIDS/HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis . To fill this substantial gap, this study examines patterns of cancer occurrence and stages of cancer at diagnosis, and risk factors associated with advanced stage cancers among patients at Tikur Anbessa Hospital from 2010 to 2014.

Source Journal of cancer prevention

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