Cancer in Africa: The Untold Story

Despite rising incidence and mortality rates in Africa, cancer has been given low priority in the research field and in healthcare services. Indeed, 57% of all new cancer cases around the world occur in low income countries exacerbated by lack of awareness, lack of preventive strategies, and increased life expectancies. Despite recent efforts devoted to cancer epidemiology, statistics on cancer rates in Africa are often dispersed across different registries. In this study our goal included identifying the most promising prevention and treatment approaches available in Africa. To do this, we collated and analyzed the incidence and fatality rates for the 10 most common and fatal cancers in 56 African countries grouped into 5 different regions (North, West, East, Central and South) over 16-years (2002-2018). We examined temporal and regional trends by investigating the most important risk factors associated to each cancer type. Data were analyzed by cancer type, African region, gender, measures of socioeconomic status and the availability of medical devices.

We observed that Northern and Southern Africa were most similar in their cancer incidences and fatality rates compared to other African regions. The most prevalent cancers are breast, bladder and liver cancers in Northern Africa; prostate, lung and colorectal cancers in Southern Africa; and esophageal and cervical cancer in East Africa. In Southern Africa, fatality rates from prostate cancer and cervical cancer have increased. In addition, these three cancers are less fatal in Northern and Southern Africa compared to other regions, which correlates with the Human Development Index and the availability of medical devices. With the exception of thyroid cancer, all other cancers have higher incidences in males than females.

Our results show that the African continent suffers from a shortage of medical equipment, research resources and epidemiological expertise. While recognizing that risk factors are interconnected, we focused on risk factors more or less specific to each cancer type. This helps identify specific preventive and therapeutic options in Africa. We see a need for implementing more accurate preventive strategies to tackle this disease as many cases are likely preventable. Opportunities exist for vaccination programs for cervical and liver cancer, genetic testing and use of new targeted therapies for breast and prostate cancer, and positive changes in lifestyle for lung, colorectal and bladder cancers. Such recommendations should be tailored for the different African regions depending on their disease profiles and specific needs.