Recommendations for lung cancer screening in Southern Africa
Coenraad F. N. Koegelenberg,1 Shane Dorfman,2 Ivan Schewitz,3 Guy A. Richards,4 Shaun Maasdorp,5 Clifford Smith,6 Keertan Dheda,7,8 and on behalf of the South African Thoracic Society Author information Article notes Copyright and License information PMC Disclaimer Abstract Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in southern Africa. Early trials of chest radiograph-based screening in males at high risk for lung cancer found no […]
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 2.1 million new cases and 1.8 million deaths in 2018. (1) More than two-thirds of lung cancer patients are diagnosed at a late stage, after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. (2) Even with surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, the 5 […]
Management of lung cancer in Africa: Underdiagnosis and poor access to treatment – A close look at Nigeria and West African Sub-region
Lung cancer is of public health importance and imposes a great deal of socioeconomic and disease burden on the West African subregion and Nigeria in particular. It is one of the most common cancers worldwide and accounts for 11.4% of all new cancers. In this review, we did not find any well-coordinated lung cancer registry in either Nigeria or any other West African country. For us to attain any meaningful level of the interventional plan to address any identifiable deficiencies in the treatment of lung cancer in the West African subregion, it is imperative that a specific regional lung cancer registry with a regular audit of the reporting, is set up. There is an urgent need for further studies on the local risk factors predisposing to lung cancer, especially in the younger age group. Finally, intense pressure must be mounted on the governments within West Africa to implement the 15% GDP allocation to the health budget as agreed in the WHO/Abuja Declaration and to speed up efforts towards universal health insurance.