Patterns of Esophageal Cancer in the National Cancer Institute at the University of Gezira, in Gezira State, Sudan, in 1999-2012

Background: Esophageal cancer (EC) is among the most common malignancies in Eastern Africa, but theoccurrence of EC in Sudan has rarely been described in the scientific literature. This paper reports the resultsof a consecutive case series of all EC patients who visited one of the two public cancer treatment centers inthe country in 1999-2012, providing a first description of this disease in a treatment center located in centralSudan. Materials and
Methods: Clinical and demographic data for all EC patients who visited the Departmentof Oncology of the National Cancer Institute at the University of Gezira (NCI-UG) from 1999 to the end of 2012were abstracted and tabulated by sex, tumor type and other characteristics.
Results: A total of 448 EC patientsvisited NCI-UG in 1999-2012, and the annual number of EC cases increased steadily from 1999. Squamous cellcarcinoma (SCC) was the predominant EC tumor type (90%), and adenocarcinoma (ADC) was reported in 9.4%of the EC cases. The overall male-to-female ratio for EC was 1:1.8, but the ratio was tumor type-dependent,being 1:2 for SCC and 2:1 for ADC. Only 20% of EC patients reported having ever used tobacco and/or alcohol,and the vast majority of these patients were male. At the time of EC diagnosis, 47.3% of the patients resided inGezira State. Some EC patients from Gezira State seek out-of-state treatment in the national capital of Khartouminstead of visiting NCI-UG.
Conclusions: The annual number of EC patients visiting NCI-UG has increased inrecent years, approximately half of these patients being from Gezira State. Although this consecutive series ofEC patients who visited NCI-UG was complete, it did not capture all EC patients from the state. A populationbasedcancer registry would provide more complete data required to better understand EC patterns and riskfactors.