CANCER OF THE COLON AND RECTUM IN GHANA - A 5-YEAR PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

A prospective study of 134 patients who presented to a teaching hospit al in Ghana for the first time with colorectal cancer between January 1987 and December 1991 is reported. The mean number of new patients pe r year was nearly three times that of a decade ago. The disease afflic ts both sexes equally and the age of highest incidence is in the seven th and eighth decades. Some 65 patients had colonic cancer and 69 rect al lesions. Most patients presented with advanced disease and only fou r of 109 in whom disease was staged (3.7 per cent) had Dukes A tumours . Right-sided cancer of the colon was more common than that of the lef t. The importance of rectal examination is emphasized by the finding t hat 78 per cent of rectal rumours were within reach of the examining f inger. 'Curative' resection was possible in 60 per cent of patients wi th colonic cancer but in only 36 per cent of those with rectal tumours . The postoperative mortality rate of patients who underwent laparotom y was 13.6 per cent and in those who had resection 5.5 per cent. Long- term follow-up was poor. These results emphasize the need for accurate data collection on colorectal carcinoma, public education on the impo rtance of early diagnosis and follow-up after treatment. These finding s also call for a study of the epidemiology and aetiology of colorecta l cancer in Ghana.