Abstract:

Background: Prostate cancer has become the leading cancer and cause of death in Zimbabwean men. The number of confirmed prostate cancer cases has been on the increase since the turn of the century. Considering this trend a retrospective cross sectional study was carried out to determine the pattern of the disease and the role played by the prostate specific antigen in its detection.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the emerging pattern and the role of the prostate specific antigen in the detection of prostate cancer.

Methodology: A retrospective cross sectional study using secondary data was carried out. Prostate specific antigen results of 176 outpatients who visited a small medical facility in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe were retrieved. Of these 26 proceeded to have biopsies done and the histology reports were retrieved and analyzed. The data was analyzed using Graph Pad Prism 6 software.

Results: 14.2% of the patients were confirmed by biopsy to have prostate cancer. Prostate specific antigen levels of greater than 20 ng/ml were associated with biopsy confirmed Prostate Cancer.

Conclusion: It was found out that Prostate Cancer is a major health problem in Zimbabwean men. Despite the low specificity of the prostate specific antigen, the test still plays a major role in the detection of prostate cancer. The age of those with confirmed Prostate Cancer is going down. There is need for improved health budget and public health education in Zimbabwe.

Keywords: Emerging pattern, prostate cancer, prostate specific antigen, retrospective cross sectional, Zimbabwe

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