# Cervical cancer in Botswana: Identifying demographic, clinical and geographical features

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2021 · $29,947

## Abstract

The World Health Organization estimates that there were 570,000 cervical cancer cases and 311,000 cervical
cancer deaths in 2018. In Botswana, cervical cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and
the leading cause of cancer death. In the past two decades, low to middle income countries (LMICs) like
Botswana have spent much of their resources and time battling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Consequently, the
morbidity and mortality from HIV/AIDs is decreasing and the life expectancy of the population is increasing,
causing the proportion of disease and death from non-communicable diseases to also increase. As this chronic
disease burden accumulates, data, resources, and interventions needed to address this growing concern are
scarce, making this an opportune time in LMICs to prioritize cancer care with the intent of reducing the impact
of this disease. In Botswana, despite a national healthcare system and cervical cancer screening program,
many cervical cancers are diagnosed at advanced stages (stage III or IV) and the mortality rate is high. A
partnership between the Botswana Ministry of Health and University of Pennsylvania (BUP), formed in 2001 to
combat HIV/AIDs, has recognized the need to expand priorities to include chronic diseases and has developed
an infrastructure to capture demographic, social and biological characteristics of cervical cancer patients
throughout Botswana. Leveraging information collected on this cohort in the present study is a highly efficient
approach to elucidate the epidemiology of cervical cancer in Botswana. This will be the largest study to provide
a rich, detailed description of characteristics and geographical associations of cervical cancer in Botswana. For
this proposal, we will first investigate patient characteristics that differ according to tumor stage at diagnosis of
cervical cancer using cohort data collected in Botswana. Second, we aim to identify geographic location and
variation of cervical cancer cases throughout the country using spatial statistical methods. Lastly, we will
determine how proximity between a patient’s residence and cancer care relate to stage at diagnosis of cervical
cancer using geographic information systems. The overarching aim for this research is to highlight the growing
cancer burden in Botswana and learn pertinent information that will lay a foundation for future studies to
confirm and characterize factors associated with the increasing burden of cervical cancer, with the ultimate
goal of identifying key opportunities to increase early detection, improve access to care, and improve survival
for cervical cancer patients in Botswana. In addition, information learned from this research could be utilized to
investigate areas where HPV vaccination programs could be implemented. Future work directly resulting from
this proposed research could be applied to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in Botswana, and be applied
to other cancers, particularly those cancers that would ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10151286
- **Project number:** 1F31CA254075-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Tara Marie Friebel-Klingner
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $29,947
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-01 → 2021-08-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10151286

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10151286, Cervical cancer in Botswana: Identifying demographic, clinical and geographical features (1F31CA254075-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10151286. Licensed CC0.

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