An overview of cancer management by radiotherapy in Anglophone West Africa.

The problems associated with cancer management particularly by radiotherapy in the developing countries are well known. This paper attempts to present the case as it is in Anglophone West Africa, and to quantify the severity of the problem through a critical analysis of available data based on the experience at the oldest radiotherapy center in West Africa between January 1981 and December 1988. In the whole of the Anglophone West African states with a population estimated at 140 million people, there was only one functional radiotherapy center until 1986 when another unit was commissioned. The paper analyzes the types of tumors managed, radiotherapy facilities available, staffing, and the other operational problems encountered by the Radiotherapy Department of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria. Suggestions are made for the overall improvement of radiotherapy services in the region.