MALIGNANT OROFACIAL TUMOURS AMONG ETHNIC IGBOS AT A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN ENUGU Malignant Orofacial Tumours Among Ethnic Igbos

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To study the geographical distribution of
malignant orofacial tumours seen at the University of Nigeria
Teaching Hospital Enugu, among ethnic Igbos in Nigeria
distributed over five states with 95 local government areas.
METHODS: A Seven-year (2012-2018) retrospective study of
native Igbo patients who presented at the Oral and Maxillofacial
Pathology Unit of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu.
Records of all identified as Igbo in the biopsy forms were analysed
to obtain their age, gender, location, histologic diagnosis, local
government area, and state of origin.
RESULTS: Ninety-six malignant orofacial tumours were diagnosed
by histological methods among native Igbo patients presenting at
the hospital. The male to female ratio was 1.6 to 1.0. The overall
mean age was 49.1 ± 19.2 years, and the malignant tumour
observed were: oral mucosal carcinomas (41.7%), salivary
carcinomas (18.8 %), sarcomas (15.6 %), odontogenic carcinomas
9.4 %, haematolymphoid malignancies 8.3 %, vascular
malignancies 3.1 % and metastatic tumours 3.1 %. The most
common specific orofacial malignancies were squamous cell
carcinoma (41.6 %), and Igbos from Enugu State (54.2 %) had the
highest incidence of orofacial malignancies, with the highest
prevalence in the local government area of Enugu-South (11.5%).
The Pearson correlation of orofacial malignant tumour with age
was -0.297, with a p value of 0.003 indicating an inverse
relationship.
CONCLUSION: Igbo patients who presented at the tertiary
hospital had similar prevalent orofacial malignancies as those
reported in other regional Nigerian studies. The geographic
distribution of the lesions showed that the highest prevalence
of cases was from those with closer proximity to the state and
local government area where the dental facilities were
located.