Pattern of malignant head and neck tumors among children in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: The pattern of head and neck cancer in children are well documented among Caucasians and the Orientals but this cannot be said among African children especially in developing country like Nigeria. Aim: To evaluate the pattern of malignant head and neck tumours among children in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital. Method: A retrospective study of cases of head and neck childhood malignancies at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin- City, Nigeria over a 12-year period, from January 2009 to December 2020. Results: A total of 127 children with head and neck malignant tumours were seen in this period. The mean age of children was 5.27±4.72 years (age range, 0.3 to 18 years). There were 83(65.4%) males and 44(34.6%) females. The most frequently seen tumour was retinoblastoma (44.1%) and this was followed by rhabdomyosarcoma (18.1%) and Burkitt’s lymphoma (16.5%). Apart from Burkitt’s lymphoma that was commonest in the 6-12 years group, all other cancers were most frequent during the 0-5 years. The peak incidence of cases was seen in 2015 followed by 2016 and 2019. Regarding the outcome of the treatment, 8(6.3%) of the patients died of their disease while just only 1 (0.8%) was discharged against medical advice Conclusion: Retinoblastoma followed by rhabdomyosarcoma and Burkitt’s lymphoma were the most common tumors in study locality.