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Sifelani Tsiko

Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor

At least 7 659 Zimbabweans were diagnosed with cancer in 2017, an increase of nearly 400 above the 2016 figures of 7 265.

The latest figures published by the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry (ZNCR) are based on diagnoses reported to the cancer registry offices in Harare and Bulawayo, both public and private hospitals, health laboratories, haematology and radiology reports.

The registry said the compilation of the report was delayed by the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

“The ZNCR regrets the delayed publication of this report which was caused by a number of factors beyond its control,” said ZNCR registrar Mr Eric Chokunonga.

“In order to meet the deadline, staff had to be away in the provinces for extended periods, resulting in accumulation of data processing backlog. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus aggravated the situation.”

Computer software changes also delayed the process as the registry migrated to the new software programme.

The latest data suggest that the number of cancer diagnoses has risen significantly from 4 015 in 2005 to 7 659 in 2017.

Health experts say the rise in cancer cases in Zimbabwe is largely due to changes in diet and rapid urbanisation.

Cancer experts say as the country was rapidly urbanising, more people were getting cancers related to lifestyle rather than those linked to poverty.

The latest Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry report reveals that the total number of new cancer cases recorded among Zimbabweans of all races (including non-melanoma skin cancer) in 2017 was 7 659 comprising 3 270 (42.7 percent) males and 4 389 (57.3 percent) females.

Harare, the capital, recorded 2 571 malignant tumours consisting of 1 211 (47.1 percent) males and 1 360 (52.9 percent) females, while Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city recorded 1 081 new cases comprising 500 (46.3 percent) men and 581 (53.7 percent) women.

Cervical cancer remained the lead cancer followed by prostate, breast cancer, Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, oesophagus and colorectal in that order.

The most frequently occurring cancers among Zimbabweans of all races in 2017 were cervix uteri (20 percent), prostate (10 percent), breast (8 percent), Kaposi sarcoma (KS) (5 percent), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) (5vpercent), oesophagus (5 percent), colorectal (4 percent), stomach (4 percent) and liver (3 percent).

The other cancers accounted for 36 percent of the registered malignancies.

The leading causes of cancer among Zimbabwean black men in 2017 were prostate cancer (24.5 percent) followed by KS (10.1 percent), NHL (6.9 percent), oesophagus (6.8 percent), liver (5.5 percent), stomach (4.5 percent), lung (3.8 percent), eye (3.2 percent), leukaemia (2.6 percent) and colon (2.6 percent).

For Zimbabwean black women, the most frequent cancers were cervical cancer (37.1percent), breast (13.5 percent), oesophagus (4.3 percent), NHL (4.1 percent) stomach (3.7 percent), KS (3.1 percent), ovary (2.8 percent), eye (2.1 percent), vulva (2.1 percent) and corpus uteri (2.0 percent).

Cancer of the prostate (21.1 percent) predominated in the non-black male population of Zimbabwe in 2017.

This was followed by colon cancer (9.5 percent), melanoma skin cancer (MSC) (7.5 percent), lung (6.1 percent), rectum (6.1 percent), bladder (5.4 percent), oesophagus (4.8 percent), leukaemia (4.8 percent) NHL (4.1 percent), stomach (3.4 percent) and kidney (3.4 percent).

The most common cancers in non-black Zimbabwean women were breast (35.8 percent), cervix uteri (7.3 percent), lung (7.3 percent), ovary (6.6 percent) colon (6.0 percent), MSC (4.0 percent), bladder (3.3 percent), NHL (2.6 percent), corpus uteri (2.6 percent) and rectum (2.6 percent).

“Apart from the increased number of new registrations, there were no significant observations made in the results for 2017 when compared with those made in previous years (2014-2016),” said Mr Chokunonga.

“The incidence and pattern of cancer occurrence, particularly the rankings of the common malignancies by gender and ethnicity remained relatively unchanged. Consistent with observations made in recent years, the incidence of prostate cancer continues to rise unchallenged.”

The leading causes of cancer deaths among children included leukaemia, lymphoma, tumours of the brain, renal tumours, nervous system, eye, soft tissue tumours and bone tumours.

“A total of 253 paediatric cancers (age 0-14) of all races were registered in 2017,” according to the latest cancer registry report. “These comprised 151 (59.7percent) boys and 102 (40.3 percent) girls. Paediatric cancers accounted for 3.3 percent of all the cancers recorded in 2017.”

The most common childhood cancers of all races recorded in 2017 according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC) were as follows: leukaemia (21 percent), retinoblastoma (14 percent), renal tumours (13 percent), lymphoma (10 percent), central nervous system (9 percent), soft tissue (9 percent), bone tumours (4 percent) and neuroblastoma (4 percent).

Other unspecified malignant tumours accounted for 16 percent of the childhood cancers.

A total of 2 804 cancer deaths comprising 1 319 (47.0 percent) males and 1 483 (53.0 percent) females were recorded in Harare, Chitungwiza and Bulawayo in 2017 compared to 2 751 cancer deaths recorded in 2016.

The leading causes of the deaths were cervical cancer (13 percent), prostate (10 percent), breast (8 percent), oesophagus (7 percent), liver (6 percent), stomach (5 percent), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (5 percent), Kaposi sarcoma (4 percent) and colo-rectal (4 percent). The other cancers constituted 38 percent of the recorded deaths.

Zimbabwe has made huge strides in improving the collection of information of all new cancer cases helping to increase surveillance and the implementation of cancer programmes in the country.

Early diagnosis is critical in the management of cancer. Health experts still bemoan that most patients report cases late, affecting recovery rates.

“A total of 3 366 cases (44 percent) had the stage of tumour at diagnosis recorded while 4 293 (56 percent) had unknown stages. Of these staged cases, 2 799 (83percent) were in stage 3 and 4,” according to the cancer registry.

Read full article on www.herald.co.zw

Cancer cases are increasing in Zimbabwe and most other African countries due to late and poor diagnosis, lack of health insurance and inadequate resources.

Health experts say Africa must invest in cancer diagnostic technology to improve the treatment and care of growing cancer patients on the continent.

In most African countries, cancer services are failing to meet growing demand due to lack of adequate equipment, decades of under-investment alongside outdated practices which have reduced survival rates for patients on the continent.

Cancer treatment and care is lagging behind the rest of the world due to poor investment in cancer technology and laboratory infrastructure.

According to the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the global death toll from cancer rose to 10 million in 2020 while the global cancer burden is estimated to have risen to 19.3 million new cases.

The agency says one in five people worldwide develop cancer during their lifetime and one in eight men and one in 11 women die from the disease.

In Africa, the agency estimated that new cancer cases could double to two million in the next 20 years, if nothing is done to curb the spread of cancer on the continent.

Africa and most other developing countries continue to record high cancer deaths because the disease is often not detected and diagnosed early enough due to a lack of screening and access to treatment.

“The kinds of diets we are taking which are increasingly becoming westernised and a combination of sedentary lifestyles is one of the attributions. More studies need to be done to analyse cancer patterns and incidences in Zimbabwe,” Mr Chokunonga once remarked in a report.