Malignant tumours of the genital tract among Batswana women.

BACKGROUND To determine the frequency and pattern of malignant tumours of the female genital tract among Batswana women. DESIGN A four-year retrospective histological study of the pattern of female genital tract malignancy in Botswana. SETTING University of Botswana and the National Health Laboratory Gaborone, Botswana. The National Health Laboratory is the only public tertiary referral laboratory that provides diagnostic pathology services in the South-Eastern part of Botswana. It is located just adjacent to Princess Marina Hospital, the major tertiary referral hospital in the country. METHODS All histologically confirmed diagnoses of female genital tract malignancies from January 1(st) 2006 to December 31(st) 2009 were reviewed by two pathologists and diagnoses re-confirmed by taking fresh tissue sections from paraffin embedded archival tissue blocks. RESULTS The age of patients ranged from 13-96 years with a mean age of 54.5 ± 6.4 years. Cancer of the cervix constituted 80.6%, followed by uterine cancer (10.0%), carcinomas of the vulva (4.5%) and ovary (3.4%) in that order. Ovarian cancers predominated in the younger age group. There was a steady increase in the frequencies of cervical, uterine and ovarian cancers over the 4-year study period with a decline in uterine cancer in the 4(th) year. CONCLUSION Cervical cancer incidence is high among Batswana women and all female genital tract cancers occurred at a relatively early mean age. Therefore the importance of established and accessible screening programs and awareness campaigns need more emphasis than it is being given currently.