The epidemiological determinants of prostate cancer: a retrospective analytical study

Abstract

Introduction: The study of the epidemiological profile of cancers is one of the pillars of the population's health problems and their determinants. One of the objectives of this type of prospecting is to analyze the impact of behavioral, environmental and professional factors. Material and methods: This is a retrospective study conducted in our university hospital center, including 120 patients followed for prostate cancer over two years between January 2018 and December 2019. The choice of patients was subject to a number of criteria inclusion and exclusion. The quantitative and qualitative variables were described by their proportion and their percentage. Descriptive statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS 20 software. Results: In our study we objectified 42% of our patients had no specific history, 65.5% of our patients were smokers, 16% were alcoholics, 69.1% had red meat consumption deemed excessive. The prostate was hard on digital rectal examination in 39.62% of cases, unilateral nodular in 47% of cases, and normal in 13% of cases. We separated our patients into three groups according to the risk factors, group 1 without risk factors, group 2 with 1 risk factor, and group 3 with at least 2 risk factors, in the same way, we tried to establish a correlation with the presence or absence of metastases. Conclusion: Prostate cancer in its metastatic stage is very common in our context unlike in developed countries where screening can detect cancer at an early stage. The study of risk factors in our university center allowed us to identify the epidemiological profile of cancer in our hospital structure.