Analysis of evidence in NCCN harmonized guidelines for sub-Saharan Africa.

Abstract

1510 Background: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Harmonized Guidelines for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have emerged as leading cancer treatment guidelines in SSA. The NCCN-SSA guidelines, derived by adapting NCCN guidelines for the SSA context, offer standardized recommendations to guide cancer care and shape policy in SSA. This study examines the evidence cited in support of the NCCN-SSA guidelines, with a focus on population characteristics and generalizability to SSA. Methods: Two reviewers independently examined the NCCN-SSA guidelines for the eight most common cancers in SSA to identify all studies cited in support of treatment/management recommendations. Study selection discrepancies were resolved by discussion. Full-text articles were reviewed and data on age, sex, race, and recruitment geography were abstracted. Descriptive analyses were performed using R statistical software. Results: Overall, 4,589 citations were reviewed, and 2,938 (64.0%) studies with individual-level data were included, representing >10.4 million study participants. Of the 2,061 studies reporting geographic information (70%), 50 (2.4%) recruited in SSA; of these, 39 (83.0%) recruited from South Africa. Three studies (0.2%) recruited exclusively in SSA. Most studies (95.3%) recruited exclusively from high or upper-middle income countries. Only 29.2% of studies with race data included >10% Black study participants. Conclusions: Most studies cited in the NCCN-SSA guidelines were conducted in high-income countries outside SSA. A small minority of all study participants were Black. Our findings underscore potential limitations in the generalizability of the NCCN-SSA guidelines to SSA and highlight a pressing need to generate and incorporate context-specific data to guide care and inform policy. WHO region of recruitment, race, and country-level income of studies included in NCCN-SSA guidelines. Cancer type # (%) studies reporting geography # (%) studies by recruitment region*: Americas # (%) studies by recruitment region*: Europe # (%) studies by recruitment region*: Sub-Sah. Africa % participants, White % participants, Black % participants, Other race # (%) studies representing only HMIC (per World Bank) Overall 2061(70%) 1177 (57%) 921 (45%) 50 (2%) 79% 9% 11% 1964(95%) B-cell 325(57%) 173 (53%) 178 (55%) 5(2%) 82% 7% 10% 307(94%) Breast 206(44%) 123 (60%) 124 (60%) 12 (6%) 80% 9% 11% 179(87%) Cervical 163(90%) 100 (61 %) 44(27%) 3(2%) 64% 14% 22% 158(97%) Colorectal 584(82%) 278 (48%) 292 (50%) 11 (2%) 80% 10% 10% 571 (98%) Hepato-cellular 183(74%) 80(44%) 68(37%) 0(0%) 69% 9% 22% 169(92 %) Kaposi sarcoma 51(80%) 25 (49%) 19(37%) 5(10%) 38% 51% 10% 44(86%) Ovarian 115(56%) 76 (66%) 35 (30%) 0(0%) 83% 4% 13% 115(100%) Prostate 434(88 %) 322 (74 %) 161 (37%) 14 (3%) 79% 9% 12% 421(97%) HMIC = high and upper-middle income countries. *Percent of studies includes as the denominator only the number of studies with reported geographies.