CERVICAL CANCER IN NORTH WEST ALGERIAN REGION: SCREENING ACTIVITIES EVALUATION AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Background: Cervical cancer is the second cause of cancer mortality in women after breast cancer with a slow progression, this disease is a real public health problem, screening remains primordial.

Aim: Very few studies focusing on cervical cancer screening have been conducted in Algeria, we analysed the knowledge of cervical cancer and showed interest of pap smear among North West Algerian women in order to contribute to the evaluation of cervical cancer screening programm.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on women who performed Cervico Vaginal Smears between January 2002 and December 2009 at the hospital of Sidi Bel Abbes in the North West of Algeria.

Results: It’s an unteresting study about 6559 pap smears performed between 2002 and 2009, the results of the screening assessment indicate that participation in screening is increasing, with a number of 2310 pap smears in 2009, in majority done when clinical signs appear. The mean age of invasive cervical cancer is 46.80 with a predominance of squamous cell carcinoma (87% of cases). Despite the cervical cancer screening programm, this disease is still progressing, the year 2009 recorded the largest number of cervical cancer (40 cases).

Conclusion: Ongoing information and awareness-raising activities should be considered so that women can participate in screening earlier in order to prevent the occurrence of cancerous lesions.