Cervix cancer in Tunisia: clinical and pathological study.

INTRODUCTION Uterine cervix cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. DESIGN In order to review the clinical and pathological features of cervix cancer in the center of Tunisia, a retrospective study was carried out on 410 cancer cases diagnosed in the Pathology Department, Farhet Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia (1993-2006). RESULTS The mean age was 52.1 years. Of the 410 patients, 90.5% had squamous cell carcinoma and 7.3% had adenocarcinoma. One hundred thirty-eight patients were identified as being in early stages (0 and I) (33.6%) and 58.2% in advanced stages (II-IV). Therapy consisted mainly in combination of radiotherapy and surgery in early stages (28.8%), and radiotherapy alone or associated with the chemotherapy in advanced stage (29.7%). Surgery was the only treatment in 29.5% of cases. CONCLUSION A relatively large proportion of patients presented in stages II to IV, as compared to only 36% with early stages, emphasizing the need to reinforce the early detection of this cancer and its precursor lesions in the center of Tunisia.