Ecancermedicalscience. 2026 Mar 12;20:2093. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2026.2093. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: São Tomé and Príncipe, a small island developing state, relies heavily on medical evacuations for specialised cancer care. This country does not yet have a population-based cancer registry. Therefore, limited data exist on cancer epidemiology in this population.
OBJECTIVE: To characterise the profile of cancer among patients evacuated from São Tomé and Príncipe for medical treatment abroad.
METHODS: Descriptive study of medical evacuation records from the Ministry of Health’s Patient Evacuation Board (2019-2025). Descriptive statistics were reported for patient demographics, year of evacuation, primary diagnosis, referring speciality, number of evacuations per patient and if travelled with an escort.
RESULTS: Of 1,066 total evacuations, 413 (38.7%) were cancer-related. Cancer patients had a mean age of 48.3 ± 18.7 years with female predominance (58.6%). Breast cancer was most frequent (24.7%), followed by prostate (17.9%) and cervical cancer (9.4%). Most patients (76.9%) required single evacuation, with cancer patients more likely to have multiple evacuations.
CONCLUSION: Cancer represents a substantial burden among medical evacuees, with patterns suggesting opportunities for enhanced prevention and early detection programs. The high evacuation rate highlights critical gaps in local oncological capacity. Establishing a population-based cancer registry would enhance epidemiological data and inform public health strategies.
PMID:42131878 | PMC:PMC13161590 | DOI:10.3332/ecancer.2026.2093
