Malignant tumours of female genital tract in north eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: To ascertain the pattern and frequency of malignant tumours of female genital tract in North Eastern Nigeria. Design: A retrospective analysis of surgical biopsy materials. Setting: University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the only teaching hospital in the North Eastern region of Nigeria. Subjects: Three hundred and eighty-two cases of female genital malignancies histologically confirmed between January 1st 1991 and December 31st 2000. Results: The age range of patients whose specimens were received during the ten year period was three to eighty years. Mean age of presentation was 44.2 years, (SD + 13). Cancer of the uterine cervix was the most common (70.5%), followed by ovarian cancer (16.3%), then cancer involving the uterus (8.5%). There was a steep rise in reported cases within the period of study especially for cancer of the cervix. Ovarian tumours were the most common tumours in the teenage group. Conclusion: The high incidence of cancer of the uterine cervix and the early mean age of presentation of all malignancies underlies the importance of screening programmes and awareness campaign in our community. The study also provides the basis for further analysis of female genital malignancies.

Gynaecological Cancers in Surgical Specimens – A Hospital Based Analysis

“…5,12,19 The incidence of this malignancy is higher in the more developed countries and lower in Asia and Africa. 1,8,13,17 It constitutes 6.49% of gynaecological malignancies in this series, which is comparable to other studies. 17,20,21 As many studies, endometrioid carcinoma is the main histopathologic type in this study.…”

“…Adenocarcinoma is said to be increasing and up to 20% to 25% is reported in some series. 19 Ovary was the second leading site among gynaecological malignancies at our center, similar to other nationa l5 , Indian 8 and African studies 17,18 . The proportion it forms in this series, 23.78% is comparable to the 23.5% in a national study 5 and to the 22.2% and 25.3% in Nigeria20 and Ghana 21 respectively.…”

“…12 The mean age was 37.16±14.66 years which is similar to 37 years reported in another national study. 5 Surface epithelial tumors formed the main histological group not only in this analysis but in other national 5 and international studies 1,13,17 . Serous cyst adenocarcinoma was the commonest cancer encountered by us as well by others, 1,5,12 whereas Ahmed et al 22 found mucinous cyst adenocarcinoma to be the commonest variety.…”

“…1,5,12,16 Majority of the patients was in the 5th decade which is similar to other studies. 13,17 Jamal et al and Okeke et al found majority of the patients in the 6th decade of life. 12,18 The commonest histopathological type of cervical cancer was squamous cell carcinoma (98.33%) and this was followed by adenocarcinoma (1.67%).…”

Sociodemographic determinants of abnormal cervical cytology among HIV positive women in Nnewi, Nigeria

“…In Nigeria, it accounts for majority of cancer related deaths and ill health among women (Bassey et al, 2007;Kyari et al, 2004;Uzoigwe and Seleye-Fubara, 2004;Obiechina et al, 2008). In our hospital, it is the commonest *Corresponding author.…”