Determinants of Early Survival of Breast Cancer Patients in Yaoundé-Cameroon

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. We carried out this study with the aim of evaluating the determinants of early survival of women with breast cancer in two hospitals in the city of Yaoundé. Methodology: This was an analytical cross-sectional study with retrospective and prospective data collection of breast cancer patients during 6 years in two Hospitals of Yaoundé from January 2017 to December 2022. We consulted the files in search of epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and survival variables. We completed the survival data directly from the patients or their relatives after their consent. We analyzed the data using SPSS version 23.0 software. Survival analysis was done using the Kaplan-Meier method and survival curves were compared using the Log Rank test. Factors influencing survival were evaluated using the Cox model. The significance threshold (P value) was set at 0.05 at 95% confidence interval. The study was approved by the ethics committees. Results: We included 500 patients whose ages varied between 22 and 83 years with a mean age of 47.19 ± 11.61 years. The most represented age group was 30 to 45 years old (45.8%). Less than half (41.6%) were postmenopausal. The most frequent reason for consultation was a breast lump (79.9%). The most common clinical stage at presentation was stage-3 (47.6%). Infiltrating ductal carcinoma was the most represented histological type (84.7%). The most represented histological grade was grade 2 (40.2%). Immunohistochemistry was performed in 34.20% of cases. The most represented molecular subtype was triple negative (41.8%) followed by Luminal A (30%). Concerning treatment, 17.2% did not receive any, 45% had surgery, 79.4% had chemotherapy, 34.2% hormone therapy, and 14.6% radiotherapy. The survival of patients with breast cancer at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years was respectively 90.6%;83.1%;74.2%;69.8% and 59.2%. The median survival was not reached;however, the first quartile (Q1) was 36 months (3 years). Independent factors associated with reduced survival were breast ulceration (aHR = 3.23;p = 0.002), bilateral tumor location (aHR = 9.2;p < 0.001) and clinical stage 3 (aHR = 1.72;p = 0.010) while patients classified ACR3 on imaging (aHR = 0.19;p = 0.005) had improved survival. Conclusion: Breast cancer survival from 1 to 5 years decrease from 90 to 59%. Mortality was highest in the first 40 months. Independent factors associated with reduced survival were breast ulceration, bilateral tumor location and clinical stage 3 while patients classified ACR3 on imaging had improved survival.

Predictive Factors for Pre-Eclampsia: A Case-Control Study in Two Hospitals in Yaounde

Introduction: Pre-eclampsia is a major cause of maternal and prenatal morbidity and mortality, that complicates 2% to 8% of pregnancies worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive factors for pre-eclampsia in two hospitals in the city of Yaoundé. Methods: A case-control study was conducted at the Gynaecology & Obstetrics department of the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital (YGOPH) and the Main Maternity of the Yaoundé Central Hospital (MM-YCH) from February 1 to July 30, 2022. The cases were all pregnant women presenting with pre-eclampsia. The control group included pregnant women without pre-eclampsia. Descriptive statistics followed by logistic regression analyses were conducted with level of significance set at p-value Results: Included in the study were 33 cases and 132 controls, giving a total of 165 participants. The predictive factors for pre-eclampsia after multivariate analysis were: primiparity (aOR = 51.86, 95% CI: 3.01 - 1230.96, p = 0.045), duration of exposure to partner’s sperm Conclusion: The odds of pre-eclampsia increased with primiparity, duration of exposure to partner’s sperm < 3 months, personal history of pre-eclampsia and maternal history of pre-eclampsia. Recognition of these predictor factors would improve the ability to diagnose and monitor women likely to develop pre-eclampsia before the onset of disease for timely interventions.

The Interest of Endoscopy in the Diagnosis of Fallopian Tubes Diseases at the Yaoundé Gyneco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital (Ygoph)

Introduction: Fallopian diseases are often implicated in female infertility. Several radiological and surgical explorations have been proposed in order to evaluate the severity of lesions found in utero-adnexal pathology. Among tools that are used to investigate such pathologies, we have ultrasound, hysterosalpingography and endoscopy. But, in many developing countries like Cameroon, the usage of endoscopy in gynecology is not yet known by many practicians. The objective of our study was to show the interest of endoscopy in the diagnosis of fallopian tube pathologies. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional and descriptive study from March 1st, 2017 to May 31st, 2017 at the Gyneco-Obstetrics and Pediatric department of our Hospital. We included all women who presented infertility and underwent ultrasound, hysterosalpingography (HSG) and endoscopy at the Yaoundé Gyneco-obstetrics Hospital. We analyzed epidemiological parameters, clinics, ultrasound, hysterosalpingography and endoscopic finding. We used Cohen’s Kappa test to determine the correlation between HSG/endoscopy and ultrasound/endoscopy in the diagnosis of fallopian tube pathologies. The threshold was significant for a K-value > 0.20. Results: We got a sample of 156 women;the mean age was 32.6 ± 4.5 years. The Secondary infertility dominated in 66.7% of cases;31.1% of women presented a past medical history of sexually transmitted infections and 41.7% did abortions before. Endoscopic lesions were dominated by a fallopian obstruction in 54.5% of cases, 8.3% of adhesions, 33.9% of women presented uterine myomas, 37.8% of ovarian cysts and 1.3% of pelvic endometriosis. The K-values between HSG and endoscopy for distal and proximal tube obstructions were significant with respective thresholds of 0.25 and 0.30. The K-value between ultrasound and endoscopy was not significant with a threshold of 0.015 for the tubal hydrosalpinx. Conclusion: Endoscopy assessment appears as the most efficient tool to investigate fallopian tube diseases.