An overview of cancer of the prostate diagnosis and management in Nigeria: The experience in a Nigerian tertiary hospital

Objective: To review our experience with cancer of prostate management, highlighting the mode of presentation, method of diagnosis, and the treatment outcome. Methods: Medical records of patients managed for cancer of prostate were retrospectively reviewed over a 10-year period. Relevant information which included the year of diagnosis, age at presentation, mode of presentation, digital rectal examination (DRE) findings, ultrasound (USS) assessment of the prostate, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value, the histology report, treatment offered and the outcome were extracted. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 11 software. Results: A total of 192 patients were managed for cancer of prostate within the study period but only 90 case notes were available for analysis. There was a 7.7 fold increase in the incidence of cancer of prostate. The mean age (±SD) at presentation was 68.4 (±10.1) years with an age range of 47–91 years and the peak incidence occurred in the seventh and eighth decades of life. The mean duration of symptoms prior to presentation was 10.3 (±17.1) months. A total of 66.7% of cases presented within 6 months of the onset of symptoms as against 14.4% of cases presented after a year. Majority of cases (88.9%) presented as locally advanced or metastatic disease and only 4.4% of cases were found incidentally. Only 38.9% had histologic confirmation of the diagnosis before management was instituted. DRE gave a false negative finding in 28.6% in this study. The sensitivity and false negative value of USS was 50% each and 3.3% had PSA within normal value. Bilateral orchidectomy was offered to 64 of 90 (71.1%) and the cancer related death (CRD) was 15.6%. The maximum follow-up period was 36 months in this study and 36.9% are still attending follow-up clinic. Conclusion: There was an apparent increase in the incidence of cancer of prostate from the present study with majority still presenting with advanced disease. The sensitivity of DRE was high; this probably accounted for the treatment without establishing the histologic diagnosis in majority of the cases. Such a practice of clinical diagnosis alone should be discouraged.