Absence of HHV8 in colon cancer in cameroon

Background Colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world; for over 40 years, the incidence has reportedly been lower in West Africans than in Caucasians. HHV8 is a prevalent virus in equatorial Africa were Kaposi’s sarcoma was endemic even before the AIDS epidemic. As a result of the long period of evolutionary history in Africa, there is more genetic diversity between populations living within the African continent than between Africans and the rest of mankind. Not only do populations within Africa vary considerably with respect to their genes, but across the continent there is a very wide range of environments, in terms of climate and vegetation. For all of these reasons, one might expect a wide diversity of cancer patterns, the study of which would be illuminating to our understanding of the causes of human cancer. Cameroon is a blank area on the world cancer map because medical facilities necessary for recording cancer cases and the population data necessary for the calculation of rate are scarce or non-existent. Only 10% of malignant neoplasms are confirmed by histology. Pathology facilities are not available. There are fewer than 10 pathologists and 5 oncologists for the whole population of Cameroon. Liver cancer is the most common cancer with virtually a 100% mortality rate. Cervical cancer and breast cancer each represent 11% of the total cancer cases in the population. Colon cancer is becoming common. Purpose We carried out this descriptive study to find out if HHV8 may be found in colon cancer in our environment where the disease was previously rare. Kaposi’s sarcoma is still epidemic in rural area in this country after the introduction of antiretroviral therapy. Material and method 30 paraffin blocks of colon cancer underwent immunohistochemistry with HHV8 antibodies. Results 135 cases of colon cancer were reported in our single institution over a five year period (2005–2010). Before year 2004, colon cancer was rarely reported in our hospital with less than ten cases per year. It is also known than colonoscopy and occult blood test have been introduced 15 years ago. No case of colon cancer in this series was positive for HHV8 antibody. Conclusion Colon cancer is becoming common in low prevalent settings and no association with HHV8 was found in this series.