Analysis of the proportion of university teaching hospital gastric cancer data included in the Zambia national cancer registry

BACKGROUND: The exact prevalence of gastric cancer in Zambia is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of gastric cancer cases seen at the largest hospital in Zambia, whose records were included in the Zambia National Cancer Registry (ZNCR). METHODS: We reviewed gastric cancer records between January 2015 and December 2017 from the University Teaching Hospital, Cancer Diseases Hospital and ZNCR. Statistical analysis was done using Stata version 15. RESULTS: We reviewed 94 patient records (42 were females) with a mean age of 59 years (standard deviation, 14.9). Histologically, the majority of the cases were adenocarcinoma (84%). Of the reviewed records, only 39/94 (42%) had their data included in the ZNCR. Median time to from endoscopic diagnosis to histopathological confirmation was 11 days (inter-quartile range; 7-20). Median time from histological confirmation to the Cancer Diseases Hospital for therapy was 8 days (IQR 2-19). Overall median survival time for gastric cancer patients was 290 days (CI 95%, 112 – 1225). CONCLUSIONS: Data on gastric cancer reported in the ZNCR are an underestimate of the true disease burden and there is need to strengthen data collection strategies for gastric cancer in Zambia.