GACCF – Zambia

Zambia Flag

Cervical cancer treatment in Zambia.

Project Overview

The objective is to establish a prospective regional database in Sub-Saharan Africa (starting with Zambia and then in phases expanding to 8-10 countries ultimately) looking at treatment and outcomes of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer receiving radiation with or without chemotherapy.

Target Regions: Regional database in SSA starting with Zambia and then expanding to 8-10 other countries

Background:

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide with over 500,000 new cases and 300,000 deaths estimated in 2018. The vast majority of incident cases and deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Given that majority of patients in Sub-Saharan Africa present with advanced disease, these women need appropriate treatment with radiation and chemotherapy. However, there are no regional data that help understand the outcomes, current practices or quality of treatment of these patient to help guide international initiatives geared towards improving outcomes of patients with advanced cervical cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Objective:

To establish a prospective regional database in Sub-Saharan Africa (starting with 3 countries and then in phases expanding to 8-10 countries) looking at treatment and outcomes of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer receiving radiation with or without chemotherapy. The 3 aims of this project are as follows:

  1. Evaluate demographic and clinical characteristics for cervical cancer presentation in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  2. Evaluate treatment prescribed (curative and palliative) and completed in cervical cancer patients in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  3. Evaluate overall survival at 2 year for advanced cervical cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Project Leadership

Surbhi Grover

Dr Surbhi Grover
Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Ted Trimble

Ted Trimble
Director, Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative

Project Partners

National Cancer Institute, The University of Pennsylvania, & National Institutes of Health.