Diseases Of The Prostate Among Igbos Of Southeastern Nigeria.

Abstract

Background Worldwide, prostate cancer ranks third in cancer incidence and sixth in cancer mortality among men. Blacks have been found to have the highest prevalence of prostate cancer, the earliest age of onset, and the greatest mortality rate from the disease. Nigeria has the highest concentration of black people of any country in the world and in Nigeria, the incidence of cancer of the prostate among Yoruba men has been documented but scanty data exist for Igbo men. Study design This is a retrospective study of all prostate specimens diagnosed histopathologically and analyzed with regard to tumour type and their biological behaviour. Results A total of 4400 surgical biopsy specimens were registered of which 282 (6.4%) were of the prostate gland. Seventy-four (26.2%) of the prostate specimens were malignant while 196 (69.5%) were benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). All the cancers seen were adenocarcinomas. The mean age of the patients with prostate cancer was 67+7.6years and those with BPH had a mean of 65+8years. Conclusion There is a steady increase in prostatic diseases from the 5th decade and reaching a peak in the 7th decade with neoplastic diseases accounting for 95.7%. Keywords : Cancer, hyperplasia, Igbo, Nigerian, Prostate. Ebonyi Medical Journal Vol. 7 (1&2) 2008: pp. 8-13