Abstract:
Cervical cancer is a major public health problem. With
an estimated 570,000 new cases and 314,000 deaths
in 2018 worldwide, this disease ranks as the fourth
most frequently diagnosed cancer and the fourth
cause of cancer deaths among women. The devel oping countries constitute 86% of the newly diagnosed
cases and 88% of the deaths. Cervical cancer is the
most commonly diagnosed cancer in 28 countries
including Tanzania and is the leading cause of cancer
deaths in 42 countries, the majority of which are in
sub-Saharan Africa again including Tanzania.1
Over the last few decades, cervical cancer incidence
and mortality have been declining in developed parts
of the world. These declines have been attributed to
screening, increasing average level of social eco nomic level, and diminishing risk of high-risk persis tent human papillomavirus infection resulting from
improvement in genital hygiene, reduced parity, and
diminishing risk of sexually transmitted infections.2 In
the absence of effective screening as in sub-Saharan
Africa, there has a rapid increase in premature cervical
cancer mortality in recent generationThe management of cervical cancer is a major chal lenge in sub-Saharan Africa, and this has resulted in
very high mortality rate.4 The 5-year survival rate in
sub-Saharan Africa ranges from the highest in
Mauritius at 82.1% and lowest in Kampala, Uganda, at
24.0% depending on human development index.5
There is little information on survival of patients with
cervical cancer in Tanzania. The aims of this study
were to determine the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate
and its predictors at Ocean Road Cancer Institute in
the period January-December 2012.
