Epidemiology of Malignant Disease - Essay Example

Sometimes when a high frequency of disease is isolated in a specific region an insight into those environmental and regional factors can give substantial data to frame prevention guidelines. There are many cancer resource organizations in the world, that collect valuable data and provide statistical information. But unfortunately, most of the current data is available for developed countries. It is not easy to access remote areas in developing countries and to gather information. Other problems include the unavailability of proper diagnostic equipment and inadequate resources. (Nasca 2001).

In 2002, cancer accounted for 7 million deaths worldwide. About 11 million new cancer cases were reported in the same year. The highest percentage was seen in Asia where 45% of the total cancer cases were reported. Lung cancer is still the world’s most common cause of death among cancer patients. (Fauci 2008). Breast cancer is the second most common cancer but fortunately has a lower mortality rate than other cancers owing to proper diagnostic tools and the possibility of early detection. However, there are certain malignancies more common in developed countries than in developing countries. In developed countries, Lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers are more common. Whereas liver, breast, and cervical cancers more commonly affect the population in developing countries. (Fauci 2008).

One of the more important aspects of understanding malignancy is to comprehend the risk factors associated with it. These factors are so-called modifiable because we can control or avoid them, dramatically decreasing the incidence of malignancy around the world. Some of the important factors include smoking, obesity, alcohol, inadequate diet, air pollution, unprotected sex, and drug abuse.

Africa is the second largest continent in the world in terms of area and population. In the past, communicable diseases such as TB and Aids dominated this part of the world. But due to recent development and urbanization, the living standard has improved causing a decline in the incidence of communicable diseases. Therefore, the incidence of non-communicable diseases (NDC) is on the rise. Cancer is the second most common noncommunicable disease and accounts for about 17% of its mortality. (McCormack 2012). Still, the development is not sufficient enough to provide advanced diagnostic tools and infrastructure to allow early detection of cancer.

Moreover, the management of the patient diagnosed with cancer is hampered by a lack of resources and expertise. For example, the 5-year survival rate of a patient diagnosed with breast cancer in Uganda is less than 50% as compared to 90% in the United States. Hence, the most important step to be taken in this part of the world is to develop a framework that can prevent the incidence of cancer. According to a latest study modifiable factors, as mentioned before, are responsible for 19% of cancer in men and 29% in women in sub-Saharan Africa. (McCormack 2012).

Work has been done in preventing those risk factors but most of the efforts are stationed on controlling the infections related to cancers such as HPV. Much less is devoted to environmental and occupational factors. As discussed earlier, environmental factors include chemical or radiation exposure in air, water, or soil whereas occupational factors include industrial hazards and exposure to harmful dust particles such as asbestos. We know that Africa is rich in minerals and most of its population is employed in mines; therefore the incidence of exposure to environmental and occupational factors increases many folds as compared to any developed country. Minimizing these exposures or providing a quality controlled environment in the mines with proper protection for the miners can drastically cause a decline in lung cancers. (McCormack 2012).

Cervical cancer is among the most common cancer in women in southern Africa. It is estimated that 78897 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer annually in Africa and 78% die of this disease. This is a significantly higher incident-to-mortality ratio as compared to developed countries. Cervical cancer starts with a precancerous lesion identification which can save the life of a patient. Hence much focus has been laid on promoting awareness of Pap smear as a screening test for cervical cancer. According to a multicentre prevalence survey in which 20603 women participated showed that 80 percent of the women never had a pap smear before. In the whole study population, about 468 women (2.42%) had Low-grade squamous intra-epithelial lesions and 366 (1.8%) had high-grade squamous intra-epithelial lesions. (S FONN et al 2002). The association between HPV infection and cervical cancer is well-developed hence HPV vaccination is another important step to control the incidence of cervical cancer.

From this, we can conclude, that by understanding the epidemiology of malignancies and how each factor contributes to the development of certain cancers we can devise a prevention plan. This can help to reduce the cancer burden which has been a nuisance for many developing countries around the globe. Read More