Serum selenium levels in patients with cancer of the esophagus at Mulago National Referral Hospital: a case control study.

Abstract

Background Worldwide, cancer of the esophagus (CE) is the eighth most common cancer and sixth most common cause of death. In Uganda it remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among men and women because of late presentation and diagnosis. This study aimed at evaluating the association between low serum selenium level and CE among patients at Mulago National referral hospital. Methodology This was a matched case control study, conducted at Mulago National Referral hospital, Department of Surgery in which histologically confirmed patients with CE were cases. Controls were recruited after matching with cases for age and sex. A standardized pretested questionnaire was used for interview and 5mls of venous blood were drawn from each case and control for serum selenium analysis. Data analysis was done using SPSS statistical package version 17.0. Results Eighty four patients were enrolled in this study (42 cases and 42 controls), 97.6% of the cases had ESCC. A larger proportion (59.5%) of cases had low serum selenium level compared to 14.3% of the controls. There was inverse association between low serum selenium and cancer of esophagus, OR 8.974 with CI of 2.965 – 27.164 and p value of 0.000. Conclusion Low serum selenium level is associated with the risk of developing CE and therefore threre is a need to establish selenium levels in the population for the efficient implementation of preventive measures such as selenium supplementation among the susceptible individuals/community.