Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Aug 15;141(4):694-700.
doi: 10.1002/ijc.30777. Epub 2017 May 25.

Three-year cancer incidence in Blantyre, Malawi (2008-2010)

Steady J D Chasimpha  1 , D Maxwell Parkin  2 , Leo Masamba  3 , Charles P Dzamalala  1   4
Affiliations

Three-year cancer incidence in Blantyre, Malawi (2008-2010)

Steady J D Chasimpha et al. Int J Cancer. .

Abstract

In this paper, we present incidence rates of different cancers calculated for the population of Blantyre, Malawi for the period 2008-2010, using data from the Malawi Cancer Registry. Active methods were used for case finding, with standard checks for accuracy and validity performed in CanReg 4. During this 3-year period, a total of 3,711 cases were registered comprising 1,643 men (an estimated age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) of 169.8 per 100,000) and 2,068 women (ASR 238.7 per 105 ). Kaposi sarcoma (KS) was the most common cancer in men (40.5% of all cancers in men; ASR 54.0 per 105 ) while cervical cancer was the commonest in women (33.3%; ASR 88.6 per 105 ). The incidence rates for esophageal cancer remain one of the highest in the world (ASR 30.9 per 100,000 in men, 22.1 per 100,000 in women). Incidence of cancer of the prostate is relatively low in Blantyre (5.1%; ASR 16.4 per 105 ), compared with elsewhere in Africa. In childhood, the cancer spectrum is dominated by Burkitt lymphoma (32.5% ASR 90.9 per 106 ) followed by Wilms tumor (11.3%; ASR 35.9 per 106 ) and pediatric KS (11.0%; ASR 31.1 per 106 ). The overall percentage of cases with histological verification was 47.5%, a slight improvement from 42.4% in late 1990s also indicating successful case finding outside laboratories.

Keywords: Blantyre; cancer registry; incidence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Average annual population at risk, Blantyre 2008–2010.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age-specific incidence rates for the most common cancer sites; Blantyre 2008–2010. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of age-standardized rates with other African registries and US SEER black population. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Banda LT, Parkin DM, Dzamalala C, et al. Cancer incidence in Blantyre, Malawi 1994–1998. Trop Med Int Health. 2001:4296–304. - PubMed
    1. Mlombe Y, Dzamalala C, Chisi J, et al. Oesophageal cancer and Kaposi sarcoma in Malawi: a comparative analysis. Malawi Med J. 2009;21:66–68. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Msyamboza KP, Dzamalala C, Mdokwe C, et al. Burden of cancer in Malawi; common types, incidence and trends: National population-based cancer registry. BMC Res Notes. 2012:5149. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Banda LT, Liomba NG. Malawi National Cancer Registry 1991–1995. In: Parkin DM, et al., editors. International Incidence of Childhood Cancer. Vol. 2. Lyon: IARC; 1999. pp. 31–4.
    1. Forman D, Bray F, Brewster DH, et al. Cancer Incidence in Five Continents. X. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2014. p. 132. IARC Scientific Publication No. 164.