Cervix Cancer in Tunisia: Clinical and Pathological Study

Introduction: Uterine cervix cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. Design: In order to review the clinical and pathological features of cervix cancer in the center of Tunisia, a retrospective study was carried out on 410 cancer cases diagnosed in the Pathology Department, Farhet Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia (1993-2006). Results: The mean age was 52.1 years. Of the 410 patients, 90.5% had squamous cell carcinoma and 7.3% had adenocarcinoma. One hundred thirty-eight patients were identified as being in early stages (0 and I) (33.6%) and 58.2% in advanced stages (II-IV). Therapy consisted mainly in combination of radiotherapy and surgery in early stages (28.8%), and radiotherapy alone or associated with the chemotherapy in advanced stage (29.7%). Surgery was the only treatment in 29.5% of cases. Conclusion: A relatively large proportion of patients presented in stages II to IV, compared to only 36% with early stages, emphasizing the need to reinforce the early detection of this cancer and its precursor lesions in the center of Tunisia.