Delays in Presentation, Diagnosis, and Treatment Among Patients With GI Cancer in Southwest Nigeria

The incidence of GI cancers is increasing in sub-Saharan African countries. We described the oncological care pathway and assessed presentation, diagnosis, and treatment intervals and delays among patients with GI cancer who presented to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

We analyzed data from 545 patients with GI cancer in the African Research Group for Oncology (ARGO) database. We defined presentation interval as the interval between symptom onset and presentation to tertiary hospital, diagnostic interval as between presentation and diagnosis, and treatment interval as between diagnosis and initiation of treatment. We considered >3 months, >1 month, and >1 month to be presentation, diagnosis, and treatment delays, respectively. We compared lengths of intervals using Mann-Whitney U tests and logistic regression.

The most frequent cancer types were pancreatic (32%) and colorectal (28%). Most patients presented at stages III (38%) and IV (30%). The median presentation interval was 84 days (IQR, 56-191), and 49% presented after 3 months or longer. The median diagnosis and treatment intervals were 0 (IQR, 0-8) and 7 (IQR, 0-23) days, respectively. There was no relationship between age, sex, education, or distance to tertiary hospital and presentation delay, but patients with stage III to IV versus I to II had higher odds of presentation delay (odds ratio [OR], 1.68 [95% CI, 1.13 to 2.50]). Among patients with pancreatic cancer, older patients were less likely to have a diagnosis delay (OR, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.25 to 0.98]).

About half of patients with GI cancer in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, did not present to tertiary hospitals until more than 90 days after noticing symptoms. Efforts are warranted to improve public knowledge of GI cancer symptoms and to strengthen health systems for prompt diagnosis and referral to specialty care.