A total of 1459 cancer cases were diagnosed in Cross River State between 2018 and 2022 . Out of this, 475 cases representing 32.6% were males while 984 (67.4%) were females.
The director, Calabar Cancer Registry, Prof Ima-Obong Ekanem who disclosed this while presenting a report on 5 years cancer incidence in the state between 2018-2022 during a two- day capacity workshop for Cancer Registrars in Nigeria organised by the National Institute for Cancer Reseach and Treatment in collaboration with Linkwell Dynamic Concept, at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Tuesday said the report covers only three out of the 18 local government areas of the state.
Prof Ekanem said the total of this is exclusively for malignant cases as benign and tumours of unknown origins are excluded in consonance with the international standard practice in reporting of cases.
According to her, the ratio of male to female is 1:2 with the average number of cases registered per year was 292, which represents an increase of 51% from previous years (2009-2013).
Giving a further analysis of the top 10 most common cancers during the oeriod under review, Prof Ekanem who is also Chief Consultant Pathologist in UCTH said in men, prostate is the leading cancer with 149 new cases representing 33.4% of total male cases) followed by lymphoma 43 (1.9%); colorectal 24 (5.1%) ; breast 16 (3.4%) ; mouth and pharynx 15 (3.2%) ; Larynx 9 (1.9%) ;Trachea,Bronchus, lungs 7 (1.5%) ; bladder 6 (1.3%) ; leukaemia 6 (1.3%) and thyroid 6 (1.3%).
In women, she said breast cancer is the leading cancer with 397 new cases (40.3% of the total female cases) followed by cervical 170 (17.3%) ;ovary & adnexa 74 (7.5%) ; corpus & uterus 51 (3.2%) ;colorectal 23 (2.4%) ; lymphoma23 (2.4%) ; mouth & pharynx 17 (1.7%).
For children, she said out of the 90 cases recorded during the period under review,retinoblastomas were the most frequent cancers followed by lymphoma
To avoid cancer and stay healthy, she said one must eat healthy diet rich in fresh fruits and vegitables, exercise regularly, avoid tobacco, excess alcohol intake, sexual promiscuity, low dietary intake of sugar and salt, avoid skin bleching and advised men over 40 years to have annual medical examination of their prostate and women to examine their breast monthly and have PAP smear HPV, DNA test to check their cervix.
She however said that over a third of all cancers are preventable by reducing exposure to risk factors such as vaccination against viral carcinogens including Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and high-risk Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) implicated in liver and uterine cervix cancers respectively adding that public education campaigns are vital now and in the future to mitigate the expected increase.
According to her, early detection through screening programmes can lead to early diagnosis; however, such screening is not affordable for most women. For these detection programmes to be effective, a strong healthcare system must be in place to provide equity of access to diagnosis, treatment and palliative care for all cancer patients.
She said organized cancer registration programmes using population-based cancer registries (PBCR) provide governments with information needed for planning and evaluating services for cancer control leading to the reduction of premature deaths from common cancers. "The preparation of this five-year report for the Calabar Cancer Registry is important for Nigeria as it enables government execution of an effective, accessible and equitable cancer control programme using reliable data from this region".
Prof Ekanem who commended the management of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for their support for the Calabar Cancer Registry, however enumerated some of the challenges faced by the centre to include inadequate funding and logistics such as vehicles to cover the 18 local government areas of the state. She appealed for support from the government and other organisations to enable them work effectively.
Speaking while declaring the training open, the Director General of NICRAT, Prof. Usman Malami Aliyu, disclosed that the training was targeted at enhancing the capacity of cancer registrars and data managers in order to improve the quality, accuracy and completeness of cancer registration in the 19 states of northern Nigeria.
Represented by a Research Officer and Cancer Registrar at the Nigerian Oncology Research Alliance (NORA) and African Cancer Registry Network (AFCRN), Bashir Mustapha, the director general charged participants at the training to take advantage of the capacity building to improve their knowledge on how to gather reliable cancer data for decision making in Nigeria.
While reaffirming its commitment to strengthening cancer surveillance and data-driven policymaking to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment outcomes nationwide, he explained that Nigeria now operates both population-based and hospital-based cancer registries working in synergy to collect critical data on cancer trends, saying, “These registries take data on the type of cancers we see day to day in the country.
“This helps inform decisions on the nature, types, and demographic distribution of cancer cases.
“The importance of having an effective cancer registry is mainly for policy formulation. Without reliable data, government planning and budgetary allocation for cancer prevention, screening, awareness campaigns, and treatment equipment become difficult.” he stated.
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