Gastric carcinoma at Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Addis Ababa

Objective: To provide a baseline epidemiologic information on gastric cance r from Ethiopia based on hospital data. Design: Prospective study. Setting: Department of Surgery, Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Faculty of Medicine , Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa. Subject: Ninety six patients treated for gastric cancer from 1992-1996. Interventions: Data including demographic and clinical features, pathology of the disease and treatment outcome were analysed on 96 of 125 cases of ga stric cancer. Main outcome measures: Duration of symptoms, diagnosis and st age of disease at the time of definitive diagnosis, and postoperative morta lity. Results: Sixty eight patients were males and 28 females. The mean age was 4 8.2+/-12.7 (range 20-73) years. The histopathology was adenocarcinoma with a Laurence intestinal type in 89 cases. Majority of the cases (90%) had adv anced (stage III-IV) tumours, More than forty four per cent of cases had re sectable lesions. Postoperative mortality rate was 18.6%. Twenty seven of t he 70 cases operated on (57 survived the operations) could be followed up o nly for less than one year. Conclusion: This study, although based on the relative frequency in a hospi tal material, indicates that gastric cancer is not rare in Ethiopia, Patien ts appear to present late with advanced cancers.