Prevalence and clinicopathological characteristics of de novo metastatic cancer at a major radiotherapy centre in West Africa: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Cancer is a major public health challenge in West Africa, with a significant proportion of cancer-related deaths attributed to distant metastasis. De novo metastatic cancer (DnMC), where metastasis is detected at diagnosis, presents considerable therapeutic challenges, particularly in limited-resource settings where novel treatments are often unavailable and/or unaffordable.

Aim: To determine the prevalence, incidence and clinicopathological characteristics of patients diagnosed with DnMC at a major radiotherapy center in West Africa.