Treatment of cervical precancer

Simon Manga

Reproductive Health specialist , Cameroon.

Abstract

Objective: Treatment of cervical precancer is the primary aim of cervical cancer secondary prevention. The objective of this study was to examine the determinants for treatment follow-up among women with cervical precancer in a cervical cancer prevention program in Cameroon.

Method: A five-year retrospective chart review from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2018 of 755 women in Cameroon who screened positive for cervical precancer in 2013 was analyzed.

Results: Of the dataset analyze, 422 (55.9%) followed up for treatment/biopsy either on same-day or at a later date (although only 344 actually received treatment). Of those who followed up at a later date, the lesions of 160 (37.9%) women were found to have regressed spontaneously and some were not provided treatment. Overall, 180 (42.7%) of the 344 women treated/biopsied had same-day treatment/biopsy and 164 (47.7%) were treated/biopsied after the initial visit. Age and HIV status are the determinants that were most associated with treatment follow-up. Women aged 30-49 were more likely to follow-up for treatment than women less than 30 (AOR=1.61, p=0.006, 95% CI 1.14-2.26 and AOR=2.17, p<0.001, 95% CI 1.43-3.31). HIV positive women were more likely to follow up than their HIV negative counterparts (AOR).

Conclusion: Treatment follow-up for women diagnosed with cervical precancer is not optimal in Cameroon. Efforts to increase treatment rates are needed in this population.

Key Words: Cervical precancer, Follow-up Study, Cameroon, Cryotherapy, Thermal ablation, Loop Electric Excision Procedure

Biography:

Simon Manga is a Reproductive Health specialist who hails from Cameroon, Central Africa. He is in a postdoctoral program in reproductive health in the University of Alabama at Birmingham which he is doing remotely while working as a clinical consultant for the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS), a large faith-based health organization in Cameroon. Simon completed his PhD in Population Health/Nursing Sciences in the University of Massachusetts Boston. His major research interest is on cervical cancer prevention among women in Cameroon especially the most vulnerable women such as women living with HIV and female sex workers with an objective to reduce the health disparities between them and the general population. He hopes to extend his work to other sub-Saharan African countries with high prevalence of cervical cancer. He is also interested in family planning, sexually transmitted infections, infertility, and sexual dysfunctions.

Recent Publications:

• Heart Failure Characteristics and Difficulties of the LongTerm Follow-Up in Semi-Urban African Area: About A Prospective Study at the Hospital De La Paix in Ziguinchor (Southern Senegal)

• Management of Cardiovascular Emergencies in Ziguinchor: Difficulties and Prospects in Semi - Urban Areas. About a Prospective Study at the Hospital de La Paix in Ziguinchor

• Contribution of Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography in the Management of Advanced Ischemic and Valvular Heart Diseases in Senegal

• Feasibility of a Community‐based Cervical Cancer Screening with ‘Test and Treat’ strategy using self‐sample for an HPV Test: Experience from rural Cameroon, Africa

• Barriers and facilitators of follow-up among women with precancerous lesions of the cervix in Cameroon: a qualitative pilot study