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Introduction: Gastrointestinal cancers refer to malignant cells occurring at any site along the Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT) system. Globally, GIT cancer accounts for19.2% referring to 3.5 million newly cancer cases and causing 22.7% of all cancer related deaths. In Tanzania the GIT cancer incidences are steadily increasing significantly like any other less developed countries. Most of the risk factors are modifiable such as cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyle and low consumption of fruits, vegetables, dietary fiber and dietary calcium.
Materials and methods: The descriptive retrospective study was conducted at Saint Francis Referral based gastrointestinal histological results done within 3 years from January 2023 to December 2024. Histological patterns were regarded as information of importance. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS computer software version 26.0 and presented in form of tables. The histological distribution and frequencies were presented in terms of frequencies.
Results: Out of 82 samples collected 76 were involved in the study and 6 of them were excluded due to various reasons including missing details and tissue deficit. Male were 60.53% and female were 39.47% making 1.5:1 M: F. The 41-60 was the predominant age group accounting for 36.8% of all while the least age group was 1.3%. Most of the samples were collected from colon which was 34.21%. Colon was the most area where biopsy was obtained accounting for 34.21% of all cases.
Conclusion: Tanzania experienced an increasing of significant incidence of all GI cancers over the as the time goes on. The observed increase of GI cancers in females requires further etiological studies. The proportion of young patients requires both education regarding risk factors and national screening policies that are tailored to the Tanzanian population and disease profile.
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