"alarmingly" low survival of Kenyan women with cervical cancer

31 Oct 2013 Less than 7% of cervical cancer patients in Kenya are getting the optimum treatment needed to eradicate the disease, leading to unnecessary deaths - a study by The University of Manchester scientists reveals. Results from the research, which looked retrospectively at the treatment of women diagnosed with cervical cancer during a two year period, showed 18% of cervical cancer patients in the East African country died within two years of a diagnosis. Dr Ian Hampson, from The University of Manchester's Institute of Cancer Sciences who oversaw the research, said the findings, published in PLOS One this week, add further weight to the call to spend more on cancer screening and prevention in Kenya. Cervical cancer is caused by infection with human papilloma virus (HPV) and is more than five times more prevalent in East Africa than the UK. The Manchester researchers analysed treatment of 355 Kenyan women diagnosed with cervical cancer at the Departments of Gynaecology and Radiotherapy at Kenyatta National Hospital between 2008 and 2010. Of the 355 patients originally recorded, 146 (42%) disappeared during the two year period meaning they did not receive treatment. A further 64 (18%) of the remaining women died during the study period.