UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: In West Africa, cancers of the breast, cervix, and prostate and other organ systems are prevalent but there are neither organized widespread screening services for early detection nor adequate facilities for diagnosis and management of cases which often present at advanced stages. In 1996, our hospital had no histopathologist.It was difficult to confirm clinical suspicions of malignancy. Surgical biopsies were not always possible due to cost, competition with bone setters, healing homes and high rate of loss to follow up. Autopsies were not routinely performed for hospital deaths, important morbidity and mortality data were being lost. We aim to highlight the role of diagnostic cytology in early detection and management of common malignancies and advocate the building of manpower capacity to combat the cancer burden in the West African region. Methods: Following training including UICC/ICRETT Fellowships, diagnostic cytology was introduced in our hospital making possible tissue diagnosis after one hospital visit. Results: We find the procedure to be safe, cheaper than surgical biopsy, acceptable to patients and clinicians with referrals to the service from other hospitals. Our experience has shown that with appropriate training, the introduction of FNAC in a hospital improves the quality of patient care as rapid tissue diagnosis can be obtained in cases that would have been lost to follow up. There is need to build capacity through local training of manpower that will bring the benefits of diagnostic cytology to help combat the rising incidence of cancer in West Africa.