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Introduction: epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynaecological cancer with a recurrence rate as high as 85% after an initial treatment. However, there are currently no reliable means of predicting the risk of recurrence after first-line treatment. This study investigated the risk factors that predict early recurrence of EOC after primary treatment among women in Lagos, Nigeria., Methods: this was a retrospective cohort study involving the review of all histologically confirmed EOC patients managed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria over a 7-year period from January 2010 to December 2016. A study proforma was used to retrieve relevant information and descriptive statistics were computed for all data. The associations between variables were tested and multivariate analysis was done to adjust for all the possible characteristics that predict early EOC recurrence., Results: the rate of recurrence of EOC was 76.4%. Suboptimal debulking surgery is the only independent predictor of early tumour recurrence., Conclusion: women should be adequately counselled and encouraged to report their symptoms early to ensure optimal primary treatment. Strategic efforts should also be made to further improve subspecialty training programs and skills development in gynaecological oncology in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright: Kehinde Sharafadeen Okunade et al.)

Introduction: Trace elements although present in minute quantities in human blood, they play a vital role in many biochemical enzymatic reactions and have been examined critically as a potential key factor in various human diseases including cancers. This study was aimed to determine the association between serum levels of trace elements and invasive cancer of the cervix., Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study carried out among women seen at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Fifty histologically diagnosed patients with squamous cells carcinoma of the cervix, who had not had any treatment and 100 cancer-free volunteers were recruited. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect relevant data following which venous blood sample was obtained from each participant. Serum zinc, copper and selenium concentrations were then measured. The associations of serum trace elements and invasive cervical cancer were tested using the independent sample t-test. All significances were reported at P<0.05., Results: There were significantly low serum levels of zinc and selenium in cervical cancer patients with no significant difference seen in the serum level of copper among cervical cancer patients compared to their cancer-free control counterparts., Conclusion: These alterations in trace elements levels may be important in the pathogenesis of cervical cancers; however, future robust prospective studies are needed to determine if routine provision of these supplements will result in improved cervical cancer treatment outcomes in Nigerian women., Competing Interests: The authors declare that competing interests.

Introduction: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the developing countries and the seventh commonest cancer in the developed countries. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is now known to be the main factor in the aetiology of cervical cancer with over 99.7% of cases being associated with previous high risk HPV (hrHPV) infection. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for genital hrHPV infection among women attending the out-patient clinics of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving a total of 200 women. Questionnaires were administered to collect data such as sociodemographic, reproductive and sexual histories. Endocervical swab samples were then taken from each participant. Samples were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using consensus primers targeted against the hrHPV viruses., Results: The prevalence of hrHPV in the study was 36.5%. The most predominant HPV subtypes were 31 (25.0%), 35 (8.0%) and 16 (3.5%) with the largest proportion (76.1%) of the tested samples being positive for only a single hrHPV subtype. The study showed statistically significant associations between early age at coitarche (P = 0.032) and increasing number of lifetime sexual partners (P = 0.001) with genital hrHPV infection., Conclusion: The prevalence of hrHPV was high in Lagos with the majority of test positive samples having only a single HPV genotype. We demonstrated early age of sexual debut and increasing number of lifetime sexual partners as the most important factors associated with genital hrHPV infection.

Introduction: In contrast to industrialized countries, until recently Group B Streptococcus (GBS) was infrequently reported in the developing world. This study was aimed at investigating the prevalence of GBS maternal colonization and to analyze the serotype distribution among the isolates., Methods: Vagino-rectal swabs collected from pregnant women were cultured for GBS using conventional media. Swabs were also taken from the mouths, ears and umbilical stumps of the neonates born to colonized mothers. Multiplex PCR and a conventional PCR to discern the gbs2018 -ST-17 gene (specific for sequence type(ST)-17 clone) was performed to characterize the Group B streptococcus isolates., Results: A total of 300 pregnant women and 53 neonates were studied by culture but only 175 mothers by PCR. GBS was identified in four (6.8%) of 59 (19.7%) neonates of colonized mothers. Out of 175 mothers investigated by PCR, 112 (64%) were colonized. Serotype Ia (23.9%) was the most common among vagino-rectal isolates. Serotype II (71.4%) predominates among colonizing strain in newborns. A significant association between frequency of intercourse of > 2 per week and GBS carriage was found (t-test= 2.2; P value < 0.05)., Conclusion: GBS carriage is high with low transmission. Strains that have been associated with GBS neonatal disease were reported, though in very low rates. Though none of the babies studied had invasive GBS disease, a more expansive study in the future will be required to establish if invasive GBS neonatal disease is uncommon in Nigeria., Competing Interests: The authors declared no competing interest.