Breast tumours of adolescents in an African population

Background: Tumours of the breast are uncommon in childhood and adolescence. Patients in this age group often require a different approach to diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of this study is to highlight the clinicopathologic features of breast tumours in adolescents in a Nigerian city. Materials and Methods: Eighty-four breast tumour materials from patients aged 10-19 years were analyzed over a 10-year period at the Department of Pathology; University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH); Benin City; Edo State; Benin City; Nigeria. Results: A majority of the breast tumours were benign. Fibroadenoma was the most common tumour with 46 cases (54.8); followed by fibrocystic changes with 15 cases (17). Malignancy was extremely rare in this group; with only one case (1.2) of an invasive ductal carcinoma. Histologically; most tumours were indistinguishable from the adult types. Conclusion: Fibroadenoma is the most common breast tumour in adolescents in Benin City; Nigeria. Breast cancer and male breast tumours are rare in this age group. Routine complete physical examination of children and adolescents should include breast examination

The surgical pathology of colorectal carcinomas in Nigerians.

This paper presents a 10-year experience on the examination of surgical specimens of colorectal carcinomas in Nigerians. Colorectal carcinomas were found to constitute about 80% of all cases of large bowel malignancy. The Male: Female ratio was 2.28:2. Most of the cases (65.9%) were 50 years or younger and the peak incidence was in the 41-50 year age group. The site distribution in order of frequency was recto-sigmoid area (57.3%), descending colon (23.2%), caecum (12.2%) ascending colon and transverse colon 3.7% each. Seventy-three percent of the tumours were well differentiated adenocarcinomas while 15.9% were poorly differentiated. Mucinous carcinoma and signet ring carcinoma were found in 7.3% and 3.7% respectively. There was colonic metastasis in 54.9% of cases and 20.8% had distant metastases at initial surgery. Associated lesions were villous adenoma, 24.4%, Tubular adenoma-17.1%, amoebiasis 6.1% and schistosomiasis, 3.7%. The above observations together with those of previous authors suggests a difference in the biology of colorectal carcinomas in the tropics. The association with chronic granulomatous diseases, in particular, may be indicative of an entirely different oncogenic mechanism in their development in the tropics.

The surgical pathology of colorectal carcinomas in Nigerians.

This paper presents a 10-year experience on the examination of surgical specimens of colorectal carcinomas in Nigerians. Colorectal carcinomas were found to constitute about 80 per cent of all cases of large bowel malignancy. The male:female ratio was 2.28:1. Most of the cases (65.9%) were below 50 years and the peak incidence was in the 41-50 year age group. The site distribution in order of frequency was recto-sigmoid area (57.3%), descending colon (23.2%), caecum (12.2%), ascending colon and transverse colon 3.7 per cent each. Seventy-three per cent of the tumours were well differentiated adenocarcinoma while 15.9 per cent were poorly differentiated. Mucinous carcinoma and signet ring carcinoma were found in 7.3 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively. There were colonic metastasis in 54.9 per cent of cases and 20.8 per cent had distant metastasis at initial surgery. Associated lesions were villous adenoma, 24.4 per cent tubular adenoma 17.1 percent, amoebiasis 6.1 per cent and Schistosomiasis 3.7 per cent. The above observations together with those of previous authors suggest a difference in the biology of colorectal carcinomas in the tropics. The association with chronic granulomatous diseases, in particular, may be indicative of entirely different oncogenic mechanisms in their development in the tropics.