Home-ground maize link to throat cancer in EC

HOME-GROUND maize is said to be behind an abnormally high number of cases of oesophageal cancer in the Eastern Cape.

Oesophageal cancer deaths in the province made up 26% of the 5 239 deaths countrywide in 2015.

Research suggests the cause may be the temperature at which homegrown maize is stored.

But researchers have also pointed fingers at the stones used to grind the maize, saying they may also contribute to the deadly cancer.

In 2014, a report placed the rate of the cancer in the Eastern Cape at six times the national average.

Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, University of KwaZulu-Natal professor Benn Sartorius said in terms of deaths per 100 000 people, the Eastern Cape is ranked number five in the country.

Sartorius co-authored a study that said lung cancer was the leading killer cancer in the country but the Eastern Cape has an abnormally high rate of deaths caused by oesophageal cancer.

“The Eastern Cape has a high burden of oesophageal cancer and research is pointing at homegrown maize as the cause,” he said.

Vikash Sewram, the head of the African Cancer Institute, was quoted by the South African Health News Services saying: “Individuals that eat homegrown maize showed a higher risk of oesophageal cancer.

“The risk dropped if they combined it with commercial maize, and people eating only commercial maize showed no risk.

“Homegrown maize is processed on a grindstone, and the grindstone becomes concave after a while.

“We believe that chronic injury to the oesophagus caused by the silica may result in inflammation, which over a long period may increase the risk of cancer,” Sewram said.

The Eastern Cape is said to be sharing the unenviable title of “oesophageal cancer hotspot” with regions in Iran and China.

Sartorius’ study says 58 237 people died of cancer in 2015 and 7 064 of those people were from the Eastern Cape.

Maize is a staple diet in the Eastern Cape and is the main ingredient in foods like mielie meal, samp and sorghum which makes umqombothi (traditional beer).

A large portion of the population has different variations – porridge, mphokoqo and pap – of mealie meal at least three times a week.

The most disadvantaged people have that every day because they cannot afford a more balanced diet. That is 12%.

According to the study, in South Africa breast cancer is the most common cancer for women, but cervical cancer is the deadliest, with 5 406 female deaths in 2015.

Other top cancer causes of death for women were lung and colorectal cancers.

For men, prostate cancer fuelled the highest number of new cases, but lung cancer was the number one killer, causing 5 726 male deaths.

Prostate, oesophageal, colorectal, and liver cancers were the other leading causes of cancer death for South African men.

Countrywide the top five cancers are lung, cervical, oesophageal, breast and prostate. However, in the Eastern Cape, the top five cancers are oesophageal, lung, prostate, cervical and breast.

“Initiatives such as the Global Burden of Disease Study allow us to track cancer trends in a timely fashion.

“This will continue to assist countries such as South Africa with regards to cancer burden tracking and planning as we move toward the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030,” said Sartorius.

“The disease burden of cancer is growing in South Africa, and health infrastructure and resource allocation will not be capable of dealing with it unless substantial changes are made and more dedicated funding is realised,” he added.

The study says diverse types of cancer also afflict countries differently. Cervical cancer was ranked the 20th leading cause of death in the United States in 2015; in Mexico, however, cervical cancer was ranked significantly higher at number eight, with twice the mortality rate.—