Rectal cancer: pattern and outcome of management in University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND Cancer of the colon and rectum was considered to be rare in Africa three to four decades ago. This is no longer true though it is not as common as in Western Europe and North America. The aim of this study is to determine the incidence of rectal cancer, its pattern of presentation, diagnosis, treatment and outcome of treatment at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria. METHODS This is a prospective study of all the patients with rectal cancer seen at the UITH from January 1998 to December 2002. Clinical and radiologic findings as well as findings at surgery were recorded and evaluated. They were all histologically confirmed. The data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0. RESULTS Thirty-six patients with rectal cancer were seen during the period. The male to female ratio was 1:1. Fourteen (38.9%) of the patients were younger than 40 years. Only three (8.3%) patients presented as emergency. Eighteen patients had resectable lesions at presentation. Ten had abdomino-perineal (A-P) resection and eight had anterior resection. Operative mortality was 5.9%. Ten (60%) of the patients who had A-P resection were alive at 5 years and 62.5% of those who had anterior resection were alive at 5 years. None of the patients who had unresectable tumors was alive at 5 years. CONCLUSION Rectal cancer is not rare in Africans. Surgical therapy still remains as the main treatment. When patients present early, outcome is satisfactory. Since most cases in this environment are accessible to digital rectal examination (DRE), the need for this procedure in patients with lower gastrointestinal symptoms cannot be overemphasized.