Clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical aspects of bronchopulmonary cancers at Jamot Hospital in Yaoundé: a retrospective and prospective study over 10 years

Abstract

Introduction: Bronchopulmonary cancers constitute a major public health problem worldwide and particularly in developing countries. The aim of our study was to describe the clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical aspects of bronchopulmonary cancers at the Jamot Hospital in Yaoundé and « Centre Pasteur du Cameroun ».

Methodology: We conducted a retrospective and prospective study over a period of 10 years going from January 2009 to December 2018, including all patient records with diagnosis of primary bronchopulmonary cancer in Yaoundé. Les données collectées à partir du questionnaire ont été saisies et analysées avec le logiciel SPSS version 26.0.

Results: We included 43 cases of which 24 were male (55.81%), with an average age of 59.2 years. Smoking was the main associated factor represented at the level of 60.47%. The main clinical signs were cough (32%), weight loss (25%), chest pain (22%). The dominant histological types were poorly differentiated carcinoma (32.55%) and adenocarcinoma (32.50%). After immunohistochemistry examination, we found adenocarcinoma (55.81%), squamous cell carcinoma (32.56%), bronchial small cell carcinoma (4.65%) and bronchial carcinoids (6.97%).

Conclusion: Bronchopulmonary cancers can present with non-characteristic histo-clinical aspects. Immunohistochemistry analysis looks as a decisive examination for the characterization of the nature of those cancers.