Strengthening the registration of invasive cervical cancer in the Abidjan Cancer Registry, the RECOCI Project

Invasive cervical cancer (ICC), one of the most frequent cancers in sub-Saharan Africa, is accessible to effective screening strategies. As Côte d’Ivoire’s national cancer control program has been implementing ICC screening as recommended by WHO for several years, these efforts need now to be evaluated. It is therefore essential to strengthen and pay particular attention to the registration of ICC cases in Abidjan. Beyond, oncogenic papillomavirus, HIV infection plays a major role in the etiology of ICC through its associated immunodeficiency. Previous studies conducted in Côte d’Ivoire have reported a strong association between ICC and HIV in a context of limited access to antiretroviral (ARVs). In recent years, access to ARVs has been widely disseminated in Côte d’Ivoire with the new recommendations for universal treatment. It is therefore essential to document the potential impact of this access to ARVs on the occurrence of CICs. Our overall goal is to strengthen the collection of ICC cases in the cancer registry of the urban area of Abidjan. The specific objectives are (I) To systematically document the HIV status of women with ICC, (II) Describe access to ICC screening and care.

A rapid case ascertainment (RCA) will be conducted in partnership with the cancer registry over a period of 24 months in all units involved in the diagnosis and care of ICC in the urban area of Abidjan (public and private sector). Patients surveyed will be administered a questionnaire to document their personal medical history, the presence of certain ICC risk factors and will be systematically proposed an HIV serology. This project will help to improve the completeness and quality of data on ICC cases usually registered through the cancer registry. In addition, this project will enable the conduction of specific epidemiologic studies including case-control study on ICC and HIV and a cohort study of ICC cases over a 12-month period.

Launch meeting of the RECOCI project at the National Cancer Program of Côte d’Ivoire (June 2018).