Experiences with the Use of Vaginal Dilator by Cervical Cancer Women Who Received Pelvic Radiotherapy at Cancer Diseases Hospital, Lusaka Zambia

Background: Cancer of the cervix is the commonest cancer in women seen at Cancer Diseases Hospital in Zambia and Pelvic Radiotherapy is the main treatment modality used on cervical cancer patients. Radiotherapy to the pelvis has a potential to causes vaginal stenosis but the stenosis can be prevented by regular sexual intercourse or use of vaginal dilators as recommended by cancer organizations. Despite the well-established benefits of vaginal dilators, there was reluctance by women to adopt this practice as seen by the number of survivors with vaginal stenosis at Cancer Diseases Hospital. The objective of this study was to explore experiences with the use of vaginal dilators by cervical cancer women who received Pelvic Radiotherapy. Methodology: A descriptive phenomenological design was used to explore experiences with the use of vaginal dilators by cervical cancer women. The study was conducted at Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka District of Zambia. Participants were identified and purposefully sampled during the follow up clinics, they were then followed for interviews into their homes in Lusaka and data saturation was attained after interviewing 22 participants. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Five themes from the study emerged on how women with cervical cancer experienced the use of vaginal dilator;such as uncomfortable dilators, pity for the husband, changed lifestyle, embarrassment and fear. Conclusion: It was acknowledged that the use of vaginal dilator was associated with negative experiences such as uncomfortable dilators, pity for the husband, changed lifestyle, fear and embarrassment. Therefore, this study recommends that Health care providers from CDH and other health institutions should give appropriate information to patients concerning the use of vaginal dilators and the Ministry of Health to provide vaginal dilators instead of 50 milliliter syringes currently in use.

Adherence to Radiation Therapy among Cervical Cancer Patients at Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia

Background: Radiation therapy has the potential to improve cure rates and provide palliative relief for cervical cancer patients. Despite adherence to radiation therapy being a key treatment modality, patients rarely follow prescriptions. Poor adherence to radiation therapy is associated with low survival and high mortality rates. This study therefore sought to investigate the levels of adherence and factors influencing adherence to radiation therapy among cervical cancer patients being treated at Cancer Diseases Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study design was used, 142 patients were selected from the outpatient department using a fishbowl sampling method. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS, the binary logistic regression analysis was used to predict levels of adherence to treatment and to identify factors associated with adherence to RT among cervical cancer patients. Results: The findings showed that 93% of the participants adhered to radiation therapy while 7% did not adhere to treatment. Majority of the patients 77.1% had experienced side effects of radiation therapy. About 28% of patients had severe psychological distress. By using binary logistic regression, there was a statistically significant association between adherence and perceived quality of health care services (p = 0.001). The analysis showed that patients who perceived poor quality of health care services were 0.005 (99.5%) times less likely to adhere to radiation therapy. The other independent variables were not statistically significant despite being associated with adherence among cervical cancer patients. Conclusions and Recommendations: The findings showed that patients who perceived good quality of health care services had higher chances of adherence compared to those who perceived poor quality of health care services. There is therefore a need for quality service provision which could include good maintenance of radiation machines. Furthermore, there is a need to develop guidelines for follow-up in case of any disease outbreak to avoid interference with patients’ treatment schedules and appointments for reviews.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of esophageal cancer in Africa:Epidemiology, risk factors, management and outcomes

BACKGROUND Esophageal cancer(EC)is associated with a poor prognosis,particularly so in Africa where an alarmingly high mortality to incidence ratio prevails for this disease.AIM To provide further understanding of EC in the context of the unique cultural and genetic diversity,and socio-economic challenges faced on the African continent.METHODS We performed a systematic review of studies from Africa to obtain data on epidemiology,risk factors,management and outcomes of EC.A non-systematic review was used to obtain incidence data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer,and the Cancer in Sub-Saharan reports.We searched EMBASE,PubMed,Web of Science,and Cochrane Central from inception to March 2019 and reviewed the list of articles retrieved.Random effects metaanalyses were used to assess heterogeneity between studies and to obtain odds ratio(OR)of the associations between EC and risk factors;and incidence rate ratios for EC between sexes with their respective 95%confidence intervals(CI).RESULTS The incidence of EC is higher in males than females,except in North Africa where it is similar for both sexes.The highest age-standardized rate is from Malawi(30.3 and 19.4 cases/year/100000 population for males and females,respectively)followed by Kenya(28.7 cases/year/100000 population for both sexes).The incidence of EC rises sharply after the age of 40 years and reaches a peak at 75 years old.Meta-analysis shows a strong association with tobacco(OR 3.15,95%CI:2.83-3.50).There was significant heterogeneity between studies on alcohol consumption(OR 2.28,95%CI:1.94-2.65)and on low socioeconomic status(OR 139,95%CI:1.25-1.54)as risk factors,but these could also contribute to increasing the incidence of EC.The best treatment outcomes were with esophagectomy with survival rates of 76.6%at 3 years,and chemo-radiotherapy with an overall combined survival time of 267.50 d.CONCLUSION Africa has high incidence and mortality rates of EC,with preventable and nonmodifiable risk factors.Men in this setting are at increased risk due to their higher prevalence of tobacco and alcohol consumption.Management requires a multidisciplinary approach,and survival is significantly improved in the setting of esophagectomy and chemoradiation therapy.