ABSTRACT
Background: Cervical cancer is the second most frequent malignancy and a preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in females. Objective: The objective was to describe the relative frequency; pattern; and histological types of cervical cancer in a teaching hospital in South-South Nigeria. Materials and Methods: All histologically diagnosed cases of cervical cancer seen over a 10-year period in the Department of Pathology; University of Benin Teaching Hospital; Benin City; Nigeria were reviewed to determine their histopathological patterns. Results: Four hundred and six cases of cervical cancer accounting for 30.3% of cancers in females and 62.9% of female genital tract malignancies respectively were seen during the 10-year study period. The ages of patients with cervical cancer which ranged between 18 and 99 years with a mean of 51.5 years (standard deviation = 12.8); with most frequent occurrence in 50-59 years age group. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most predominant subtype comprising 84.2% of cases while adenocarcinoma constituted 11.8%. Adenoid cystic carcinoma; adenosquamous carcinoma and metastatic carcinoma accounted for 2.0%; 0.8%; and 1.2% of cases respectively. Conclusion: The relative frequency of cancer of the cervix is high in Benin City; and this should necessitate attention to effective cervical cancer screening to increase detection of preinvasive lesions which in turn will decrease the frequency of cervical cancer