[Epidemiological and clinical features of cervical cancer in Cameroon: experience in the Douala General Hospital].

Introduction: cervical cancer is a public health problem in Cameroon, ranking as the 2 most frequent cancer. The purpose of our study was to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with cervical cancer at the Douala General Hospital in Cameroon.

Method: we conducted a retrospective study over the period 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017.

Results: the study enrolled 357 women. Patients´ age ranged from 25 to 88 years, with an average age of 52.82 ± 12.36 years. Patients from the Western Region were more heavily represented, with a percentage of 42.2% (n= 124/294). The majority of them were unemployed housekeepers (57.3%; n=200/341). The age of first sexual intercourse was recorded for only 37% (n=133/357) of the study population, with an average age of 16.73 ± 2.16 years; while the average age on giving birth to the first child was 18.92 ± 3.44 years. On the other hand, 6.5% (n=11/169) of patients were smokers, while 44% (n=73/166) were alcohol abusers. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histologic type (85.6%; n=255/298). The most frequent stage at diagnosis was stage IIB (22.3%, n=71/319) followed by stage IIIB (21.6%; n=69/319).

Conclusion: in Cameroon, cervical cancer commonly occurs in unemployed adult women and it is associated with an advanced-stage diagnosis. Hence the need to improve awareness of prevention and early diagnosis.