Browsing by Author "Walusansa, Victoria"

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    A 10-year retrospective study of lung cancer in Uganda
    (BMC Cancer, 2022-02-15) Bogere, Naghib; Bongomin, Felix; Katende, Andrew; Omaido, Blair Andrew; Namukwaya, Elizabeth; Mayanja‑Kizza, Harriet; Walusansa, Victoria
    Background: Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Uganda. In this study, we aimed to describe the baseline characteristics and survival of patients with lung cancer at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of all patients with a histological diagnosis of lung cancer registered at UCI between January 2008 and August 2018. Data on demographic, clinical, and treatment characteris‑ tics, and vital status were abstracted and analyzed. Patients with undocumented vital status on the medical records were contacted through phone calls. We determined survival as time from histological diagnosis to death. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to estimate the median survival time and the 5-year overall survival rate. Results: Of the 207 patients enrolled, 56.5% (n=117) were female, median age was 60 years (range: 20–94), 78.7% (n=163) were never-smokers and 18 (8.7%) were living with HIV. Presumptive anti-tuberculosis treatment was given to 23.2% (n=48). Majority had non-small cell lung cancer (96.6%, n=200) with 74.5% (n=149) adenocarcinoma and 19% (n=38) squamous cell carcinoma. All had advanced (stage III or IV) disease with 96.1% (n=199) in stage IV. Chemotherapy (44.9%, n=93) and biological therapy (34.8%, n=72) were the commonest treatments used. Over‑ all survival at 6months, 1-, 2- and 5-years was 41.7, 29.7, 11.8, and 1.7%, respectively. The median survival time of 4.4months was not statistically signifcantly diferent between participants with NSCLC or SCLC (4.5 versus 3.9months, p=.335). Conclusion: In Uganda, adenocarcinoma is the predominant histologic subtype of lung cancer and patients are pre‑ dominantly females, and non-smokers. Patients present late with advanced disease and poor overall survival. Public awareness should be heightened to facilitate early detection and improve outcomes.