Deaths caused by lung and cervical cancers jump in SA

Greater numbers of South Africans are dying from lung and cervical cancer, according to a study released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). In 2015 alone, these cancers were responsible for the deaths of 19,160 South Africans.

"The data suggests there is an increase in this global burden of incidence of cancer by about 33% in the last decade. In SA there is also an increase in mortality rate of these cancers." said Prof Benn Sartorius, a co-author of the study based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN’s) department of public health medicine. He is also a steering member of the Medical Research Council/UKZN Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Centre.

Last year, the country had 114,091 new cancer patients and 58,237 cancer-related deaths. Death rates per 100,000 people are increasing for the top 10 causes of cancer deaths in SA, apart from for oesophageal and stomach cancer. The most striking increases were in colorectal cancer, with a death rate that rose 31% between 1990 and 2015. The death rate for breast cancer grew 35%, ovarian cancer 41% and prostate cancer 45%.

In the different stages of cancer, the probability of survival reduces radically depending on the stage in which it is detected. Cancer screening can be done trough various tests, including pap smears and blood tests.

"Unfortunately, often cancers in Southern Africa are detected at a late stage so the prognosis is quite poor, in which case the therapy can’t be curative anymore, its more palliative," Sartorius said.

The high burden of HIV in SA has been supported by the national roll-out of antiretroviral drugs, leading to an increased life expectancy for HIV-positive people. Such individuals have shifted from needing acute care to more chronic care, and are now more likely to develop noncommunicable diseases such as cancer. In some cases, the risk is greater because HIV leaves people more prone to developing certain types of cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer affecting South African women, along with lung and colorectal cancer. But cervical cancer is far more deadly, having caused the deaths of 5,406 women in 2015. According to Sartorius, cervical cancer is caused by the underlying virus human papillomavirus (HPV).

HIV-positive women often have a more persistent and chronic infection from HIV, which increases the likelihood of developing lesions, and over time they can develop into pre cancerous, and then cancerous, cells.

South African men suffer mainly from prostate, oesophageal, colorectal and liver cancer. But lung cancer caused the most deaths, taking 5,726 lives in 2015.

Sartorius highlighted smoking, heavy alcohol intake and human papilloma virus (HPV) as the leading cancer causes in Southern Africa.