Cervical cancer in Eastern Part of Libya (Retracted)

Abstract

Background and aims: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer and the third most im-portant cause of cancer mortality worldwide, among women. Approximately half a million women develop cervical cancer each year with an estimated 85% in developing countries. The current study was aimed to estimate the number of women getting cervical cancer and risk factors of cervical cancer in East of Libya. Methods: The study is a hospital based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at Department of Oncology Benghazi Medical Hospital, Benghazi, Libya. The study utilized all registered cases of cervical cancer among Libyan women during 8-year period (2011-2018. It included information on patients’ age, education level, occupation, family income, social status, smoking habit of patient or her husband, husband job, married age, age at cervical cancer diagnosis, and outcome. Results: A total of 104-woman diagnosis with cervical cancer were enrolled during the 8-year study period. Their mean age was 53.4 ± 12.9 with 41.7% woman presenting at the age of 45-60 years. Annual frequency dis-tribution pattern was observed to be with high peak frequency in 2014 (23, 24%), 2016 (18, 18.8%) and 2017 (22, 22.9%). There were eight cases of deaths Conclusion: The number of cervical cancer that observed in the present cohort was considered low. However, implementation of screening measures including Pap smears which are currently applied in developed countries could lead to better case finding, early diagnosis, and prevention of cervical cancer.