Cancer of corpus uteri in Tunisia: epidemiological and clinicopathological features.

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to survey for the first time the burden and characteristics of corpus uteri cancers in Central Tunisia. DESIGN Characteristics of all cancer cases diagnosed during a 15-year period were analyzed based on the data of the Cancer Registry of the Center of Tunisia. Five-year age-specific rates, crude incidence rates, world age-standardized rates (ASR), and annual percent change (APC) were calculated using annual data on population size and its estimated age structure. RESULTS A total of 218 new cases of corpus uteri cancer were recorded. The ASR was 3.1 per 100,000 with a significant increase over time (APC: +7.1%; 95% CI: 3.1%, 11.1%). The median age at diagnosis was 60 years and only 20.6% of patients were less than 50 years old. The tumor size was higher than 2 cm in 83.5% of cases. Stage I was the most frequent (59.9%) followed by advanced stages (23.2%). Endometrial adenocarcinoma was the most frequent histological type (62.8%) with grade II accounting for 48.5% of cases. CONCLUSION Corpus uteri cancer is an important female cancer with increasing trend over time. These findings justify the need to plan and develop effective programs aiming at the control of the spread of cancer in Tunisia.