Abstract
Salivary gland tumours (SGT) are rare, comprising about 5% of head and neck tumours with a higher incidence reported in the western compared with the African centres. There are few studies on SGTs that have been conducted in Africa. A descriptive retrospective study was done to describe the demographic characteristics, site distribution and histological patterns of SGT at a University teaching hospital in Kenya over a 12-year-duration. There were 132 SGTs out of 2426 biopsies of head and neck tumours, the age range was between 8 to 80 years (mean = 43.6 yrs) and the modal age was 50 yrs. The percentage of tumours arising from minor salivary glands (MiSG) (67%) were twice than that from the major salivary glands (MaSG) (33%). The sites most affected for the Misg was the palate and for the MaSG was the submandibular gland. Pleomorphic salivary adenoma (PSA) (40.2%) was the most common benign SGT while adenoid cystic carcinoma) (ACC) (20.5%) was the most frequent amongst the malignant type. The overall male: female ratio was almost 1:1. However, there were more females than males with benign SGTs, whereas an equal gender distribution was noted in malignant SGT. Benign and malignant SGT occur at a younger age. MiSGs of the palate were most frequent site of tumour and the least frequent is the sublingual gland. More than 50% of SGT were malignant and hence any SGT should raise a high index of suspicion.
Highlights
Salivary gland tumours (SGTs) account for 3% of all tumours and 5% of head and neck tumours [1,2]
Salivary gland tumours (SGT) are rare, comprising about 5% of head and neck tumours with a higher incidence reported in the western compared with the African centres
The age range was between 8 to 80 years and the majority (68.9%) of the neoplasms presented between the 2nd to 5th decade
Summary
Salivary gland tumours (SGTs) account for 3% of all tumours and 5% of head and neck tumours [1,2]. Rarity of these tumour types coupled with their complex and dynamic classification scheme over the years, makes diagnosis challenging. Literature on SGT from the western countries is voluminous, there is paucity of data from the African continent. In this series data was collected from the department of Oral and Maxillofacial pathology, University of Nairobi over a 12-year period
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