Upper aero digestive tract cancers: epidemiological and histopathological aspects in Togo

Abstract

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> <span lang="EN-GB">The objective of the study was to describe the epidemiological and histopathological aspects of cancer of the upper aero digestive tract (UAT) in a reference service in Togo</span><span lang="EN-IN">. </span></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> <span lang="EN-GB">It was a retrospective study about UAT cancers diagnosed in the ENT and maxillofacial surgery department of Sylvanus Olympio Teaching Hospital of Lomé in Togo from 1st January 2005 to 31 December 2014, or a period of 10 years</span><span lang="EN-IN">. </span></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> <span lang="EN-GB">The UAT cancers represented 0.3% of consultations and 64.8% of head and neck cancers. The average age of patients was 51.3 years (± 16.5) with extremes of 3 months and 86 years. The sex ratio was 1.77. Chronic smoking was found in 26.4% of patients with 1.6% of women; that of chronic alcoholism among 43.8% of which 7.7% of women and the simultaneous alcoolotabagisme in 20.9% of patients. The UAT cancers were dominated by cancers of the oral cavity (36.2%) with particularly a female predominance (53.2%), followed by the oropharynx (18.5%) and the larynx (18.1%). The squamous cell carcinoma was predominant in UAT cancers (83.5%) followed by non-Hodgkin lymphoma (8.9%) and adenocarcinoma (2.7%)</span><span lang="EN-IN">. </span></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> <span lang="EN-GB">UAT cancers are the largest contingent of head and neck cancers in Togo. They occur most often in men from the fifties but there are a high proportion of women. Histology is dominated by squamous cell carcinoma</span><span lang="EN-IN">.</span></p>

Epidemiological profile of oral cancers in Benin

“…19 It was the most frequent localization among cancers of the upper aerodigestive tracts in Togo, a country bordering Benin. 20 However, in West Africa it is reported to be uncommon; we have found virtually no studies on oral cancer outside Nigeria. 10,17,21 In several countries, an increasing trend in the incidence of oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers has been reported, even in some where tobacco and alcohol control is successfully being carried out, suggesting the influence of new risk factors.…”

“…11 The same was true in Togo. 20 In Benin, too, the predominance was female (sex-ratio equal to 0.90). This observed female predominance does not argue in favour of the region's major cancer risk factors of alcoholism and tobacco use; the factors influencing this female predominance will therefore need to be further explored.…”