• Solomon Kibudde, Bruce James Kirenga, Martin Nabwana, Fred Okuku, Victoria Walusansa, and Jackson Orem.
• Uganda Cancer Institute, Department of Medical Oncology.
• Afr Health Sci. 2021 Dec 1; 21 (4): 1739-1745.

IntroductionLung cancer is a major global public health burden constituting 11.6% of all new cancer diagnoses and 18.4% of all cancer-related mortality.PurposeTo describe the clinical profile and initial treatment of non-small cell lung cancer in Uganda.MethodsWe reviewed charts of a cohort of patients with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer, treated between January 2013 and November 2015 at the Uganda Cancer Institute.ResultsA total of 74 patients met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 56 years (IQR 47-70), with 16.2% below the age 45 years, and 51% were female. Only 10 percent were active smokers and the most frequent histological subtype was adenocarcinoma (71%). The majority (91.9%) had stage IV disease at diagnosis and frequent metastases to contralateral lung, liver, and bones. Twenty-seven (27) patients received platinum-based chemotherapy, while 27 patients received erlotinib, and only 4 patients received palliative thoracic radiotherapy. The median survival time was 12.4 months, and the overall response rate was 32.7%. There was no survival difference by type of systemic treatment, and on multivariate analysis, poor performance status was predictive of adverse outcomes (p < 0.001).ConclusionsPatients with non-small cell lung cancer in Uganda frequently presented with late-stage disease at diagnosis. The majority of patients were female, never-smokers, and had predominantly adenocarcinoma subtype.© 2021 Kibudde S et al.

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