Primary head and neck cancers in Jos; Nigeria: A re-visit

ABSTRACT

Background: To document the pattern of primary head and neck cancers in Jos; Nigeria. Study Design: A record-based study of head and neck cancers histologically diagnosed at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH); Jos; between January 1987 and December 2002. Results: A total of 710 cases (over 44 cases per year) were diagnosed; with a rising trend. The most common sites for cancer were the eyes (15.4); lymph nodes (12.4); thyroid gland (11.8) and the oral cavity (7.6). Carcinomas 432(60.8); lymphomas 119(16.8) and sarcomas 105(14.8) were the commonly reported cancers. Carcinomas were most commonly reported in the thyroid gland (19.2); oral cavity (10.2) and the eyes (9.5). AIDS-related cancers constituted 12.3of all head and neck cancers and were commonly reported in the 3rd decade of life. This is higher than the 10.9and 7.6previously reported for Jos (p=0.89) and Maiduguri (p=0.034) respectively. Carcinomas were associated with alcohol use and tobacco smoking (p0.001); while kaposi sarcoma was more associated with HIV-positive patients than squamous cell carcinoma (p