Large Intestine Malignances in Dar es salaam, Tanzania.

Background: Large intestine malignances basically can be defined as cancer of the large bowel. It includes all malignant conditions originating from the ileocaecal valve down to the anus. In the year 2000, colorectal cancer was ranked the third most common form of cancer in adults world-wide in terms of incidence. This study aimed to document the profile of large intestine malignancies and early treatment outcomes among patients attended in major hospitals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Methods: This was a one year hospital based retrospective cross sectional study conducted by using a structured data collecting tool. The data were analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: A total of102 patients with Large intestine malignances were enrolled in our study. Both sexes were affected equally. The overall mean age was 51.23 (SD ± 15.5) years with a range of 22 to 80 years with those aged between 60 to 79 being the most affected group by 40.2%. Most tumours were located in the rectum and anal canal constituting 49.3% in males and 50.7% in females. DUKES C accounted for 79.4% of the cases with Adenocarcinoma being the commonest histopathological diagnosis accounting for 82.4% of the cases with Colo-Rectal tumours. Hemicolectomy was the most performed surgery by 57.1% with good outcomes at a follow up of thirty days. Only one death occurred in patient who underwent a low anterior resection.
Conclusion: From our study Large bowel malignancy is no longer a rare condition with no gender bias. Majority of our patients with large intestine malignances still presents with advanced disease, we therefore call for high index of suspicion among clinicians for early diagnosis and prompt treatment to improve survival of patients.