Cervical cancer treatment in Africa

Abstract

Purpose of review: This review is to inform the reader about the current situation with regard to treatment of cervical cancer in Africa and the barriers and complexities faced in most African countries. It also reviews the natural history of cervical cancer, the new 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging, and current treatment guidelines for cervical cancer.

Recent findings: There have been no dramatic new findings in the treatment of cervical cancer other than newer approaches to fertility-sparing surgery and the addition of concomitant chemotherapy to radiation for advanced cervical cancer and the data from randomized trials that have shown an improved overall and disease-free survival. The most important new findings in cervical cancer pertain to cervical cancer prevention strategies, which included using alternative approaches to cytology and the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.

Summary: Cervical cancer is the commonest cancer cause of death among women in developing countries and efforts to prevent the disease using newer approaches and HPV vaccination should be implemented. Detection of cervical cancer at an early stage is associated with excellent survival but most women in developing countries present with advanced and often untreatable disease. The ratio between incidence and mortality from cervical cancer remains very high, largely due to lack of access to appropriate anticancer therapies in African countries.