Gastric carcinoma at Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Addis Ababa

Objective: To provide a baseline epidemiologic information on gastric cancer from Ethiopia based on hospital data. Design: Prospective study. Setting: Department of Surgery, Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa. Subject: Ninety six patients treated for gastric cancer from 1992-1996. Interventions: Data including demographic and clinical features, pathology of the disease and treatment outcome were analysed on 96 of 125 cases of gastric cancer. Main outcome measures: Duration of symptoms, diagnosis and stage of disease at the time of definitive diagnosis, and postoperative mortality. Results: Sixty eight patients were males and 28 females. The mean age was 48.2+/-12.7 (range 20-73) years. The histopathology was adenocarcinoma with a Laurence intestinal type in 89 cases. Majority of the cases (90%) had advanced (stage III-IV) tumours, More than forty four per cent of cases had resectable lesions. Postoperative mortality rate was 18.6%. Twenty seven of the 70 cases operated on (57 survived the operations) could be followed up only for less than one year. Conclusion: This study, although based on the relative frequency in a hospital material, indicates that gastric cancer is not rare in Ethiopia, Patients appear to present late with advanced cancers.