PATIENT ADVOCACY-02 BRAIN TUMORS MATTER: HOW TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH BRAIN TUMORS AT THE CNHU HKM OF COTONOU IN BENIN?

Cancer care in Benin is still in its inception in Benin. The first cancer registry was created in Benin in 2014. In the study of Egué et al, published in 2019, there were 1086 cases of cancer recorded in the cancer registry in Benin from 2014 to 2016, including 18 cases of nervous system cancer representing 2.3% and 1.2% of cancers in men and women respectively. When compared to other types of cancers including liver and prostate in men and cervix and breast in women, brain cancers appear very low. However, there is no structure dedicated to the treatment of nervous system cancers since there are no neuro-oncologist in Benin and many patients diagnosed with brain tumors are frequently refer outside our country for treatment. Rare patients undergo surgery in our country for brain tumors. Therefore, we can assume that brain tumors statistics are not really indicative of the burden of morbidity and mortality related to nervous system cancer in Benin. The need to organize the management of patients suffering from nervous system tumors is therefore necessary. In order to meet this need, we plan to set up a neuro-oncology unit in Benin in order to improve the neurosurgical management of patients with intracranial tumors at the CNHU HKM Cotonou and also to initiate research projects related to brain tumor care in Benin.