The frequency of epithelial ovarian cancer subtypes in Sudanese women at Omdurman Maternity Hospital, 2013-2018: A cross-sectional study

Background: Globally, epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) is considered the gynecological cancer with the highest mortality. In Sudan, there are scarce publications about the frequency of this carcinoma. Therefore, the present study intended to perform a cross-sectional study to review the morphological sub-types and sort EOC according to age and grade in Omdurman Maternity Hospital (OMH) in Sudan. Methods: This cross-sectional, hospital-based study included 70 EOC cases diagnosed at OMH in the period 2013-2018. The data were collected from OMH records in the period 2016-2018, and included ovarian cancer types, ages of patients, and tumor grades. Results: The participants’ median age was 50 years, and the majority of EOC cases were in younger patients (48.6%; n=34; ≤ 50 years (18 to 50 years)). The most familiar tumor sub-type was serous carcinoma (44.3%; n=31), followed by endometrioid carcinoma (27.1%; n=19), mucinous carcinoma (17.1%; n=12), clear cell carcinoma (8.6%; n=6) and undifferentiated carcinoma (2.9%; n=2). The majority of cases were categorized as low grade (51.4%; n=36). Our results revealed significant relationships between EOC types and grades (Fisher’s Exact test, p=0.000). Conclusion: In Sudanese patients with EOC, serous carcinoma is the most common histological subtype, and EOC is likely to occur in women of a younger age (<50 years). Our results indicate a younger presentation of EOC and warrants quick and thorough investigation of any vague abdominal complaint in women of a younger age (<50 years). Also, it may help in guiding researchers developing screening programs especially for younger women, pay attention to the serous type as the common type and finding novel biomarkers especially for treatment and prognosis of this type.