1604 Background: The burden of cancer in Nigeria is appreciable. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are an estimated 100,000 new cancer cases in the country each year. This study seeks to determine the pattern of admission of patients with cancer in the surgical wards with a view to assessing the crude incidence rate of the disease in our hospital. Methods: The admission records of the surgical wards were studied and relevant data about patients with malignant diseases were extracted. These included the age, the type of malignancy, the site of the malignancy. The age range, mean age and peak age range for each malignant disease was determined and the result presented in tabular form. The male female ratio was determined for the common ones. Results: Between January 2008-December 2009, 4,832 adult patients were admitted into the surgical wards. Of these, 774 (16%) of the patients were diagnosed as having malignant disease (see table). Conclusions: Malignant diseases are quite prevalent in our hospital accounting for 16% of hospital admission on the surgical wards. Cancer of the breast, prostate and colon are the most common ones. Cancer by site No. of cases % Age range (yrs) Mean age (yrs) Peak age range (yrs) Male: female ratio Ca breast 214 27.65 20-85 47.60 41-50 1:42 Ca prostate 139 17.96 48-93 66.67 61-70 – Ca colon 57 7.36 24-80 56.81 51-60 2:1 Sarcomas 44 5.68 17-61 29.44 21-30 8:1 Ca stomach 37 4.78 20-75 55.60 51-70 3:1 Head and neck cancers 28 3.62 14-78 48.4 41-50 – Lungs and bronchial cancer 27 3.49 16-80 53.74 61-70 1.7:1 Anorectal cancer 24 3.10 24-78 53.21 51-60 5:3 Cancer of the pancreas 23 2.97 14-84 57.87 61-70 1:1.3 Skin cancer 22 2.84 21-76 49.00 21-30 3.5:2 Cancer of the esophagus 21 2.71 21-72 58.33 61-70 4:3 Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) 18 2.32 22-72 48.64 41-50 1:1 Others 120 – – – – –