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.