Pattern of head and neck cancers in a Nigerian tertiary health center: A 10-year review

Abstract

e17054 Background: Cancer is a rising health problem worldwide, Nigeria inclusive. A variety of different tumour types may arise at a host of sites within the head and neck region. This 10-year review is to assess the various sites of primary lesion, gender and age distribution and histopathological types, so as to update data with an earlier study done in our centre between 1997–2001. Methods: This 10 year review of patients with head and neck cancers was carried out at the University of Ilorin teaching, Ilorin, North central Nigeria between January 1997 and December 2006.The hospital is one of 2 teaching hospitals in the zone of 6 constituent states out of 36 states in Nigeria, with an average population of 5 to 6 million (2003 Nigerian census). Information extracted from the case notes of patients with histological results included: Age, sex, clinical features, site of tumour, and the histological types of tumour. The International classification of disease oncology (ICDO) ninth version was used to categorize the sites of the tumour. Results: A total of 138 cases of head and cancers were seen over the 10 year period with an average occurrence of 14 cases/year, male/ female ratio of 1.1 to 1.0, age range of 1.5 years to 85 years with a mean age of 45.23 years, the peak age incidence of fifth to sixth decades of life being 47.2%.The commonest histological type was carcinoma (78.3%), then lymphomas (12.3%), blastomas (5.1%), sarcomas (4.3%). The commonest site were the nose, paranasal sinuses and ears (23.9%), eye (15.2%), nasopharynx (13%), neck (13% -metastatic unknown primary 4.3%), thyroid (12.3%), larynx (10.2%), oral cavity and oropharynx (6.5%), salivary glands (3.6%), mandible (1.4%), and skin (0.74%). Conclusions: This result shows that head and neck cancers occur among Nigerians with no sex differentiation in their prime of life, the histological types are similar to the previous series, however the site seems to have changed with the nose and paranasal sinuses, eye, and nasopharynx being the commonest sites. The metastatic unknown primaries in the neck are much lower. The devastating effects on the individual, family and the community are enormous in a setting with late presentations at the hospital and a strong belief in traditional medicine. Emphasis on prevention of these cancers is stressed. No significant financial relationships to disclose.