Establishing cancer registries in Africa — focus on hepatopancreatobiliary cancers

Hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) cancers are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in Africa, where the risk factors, tumour characteristics, treatment-related factors and survival outcomes are poorly characterized. Despite the high incidence and mortality rates of HPB cancers in Africans, there is a dearth of data on the genetic and non-genetic risk factors for HPB cancers in Africa. The incidence and mortality rates of HPB cancers in Africans can only be substantially reduced by increasing our understanding of the population-specific risk factors and potentially unique underlying tumour biology. Pursuing this goal requires the establishment of robust clinical and population-based registries across the African continent for risk assessment, which will enable the development of strategies for HPB cancer prevention and implementation of surveillance programmes for early cancer detection in individuals at high risk. This goal was the premise for establishing the Africa HepatoPancreatoBiliary Cancer Consortium (AHPBCC). In this Roadmap article, we discuss the AHPBCC’s collaborative efforts to increase knowledge about HPB cancers in Africans and to promote Africa-focused research on HPB cancers. We also provide in-depth discussions on the establishment of cancer registries in Africa, including the challenges, best practices and areas for growth, to improve HPB cancer outcomes in Africa.