Histopathological Pattern and Audit of Skin Tumors Seen in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, South-East Nigeria: A 10-year Retrospective Study

Skin tumors consist of neoplastic lesions that affect the integumentary system which includes skin, hair, nails, and related muscles and glands. Diagnosis of these lesions can be a dilemma for both physicians and pathologists. Tumors of the skin are more heterogeneous than those of any other organ in the body, and this is a result of varying types of cells which can give rise to both benign and malignant skin lesions. The aim of this is to audit the histopathological patterns of skin tumors seen in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, South-East Nigeria. All cases of skin tumors diagnosed in the center within the study period of January 2013 to December 2022 were retrieved from the archives of the Anatomic Pathology Laboratory, NAUTH. Histology slides of the cases that met the inclusion criteria were carefully reviewed. Then, tissue blocks for those diagnosed as malignant skin tumors, were sent for immunohistochemistry. The data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0. There were a total of 206 cases that met the inclusion criteria, 103 males (50.0%) and 103 females (50.0%). The most common tumor as seen in the study is squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (19%), with the least common being cylindroma, sebaceoma, and trichoepithelioma (1% each). The peak age incidence is in the third decade. The anatomic site most affected by the tumors is the head-and-neck region (78%) followed by the lower-limb region (66%) and the least affected is the anogenital region (25%). Immunohistochemistry showed a 100% correlation for the malignant skin tumors. The overall most common skin tumor is SCC followed by hemangioma, whereas trichoepithelioma, sebaceoma, and cylindroma are the least common. The most common benign tumor is hemangioma, whereas the least common benign tumors are trichoepithelioma and cylindroma. The most common and least common malignant tumors are SCC and Paget’s disease respectively. This study served to generate baseline data for the histopathologic pattern of both benign and malignant skin tumors in NAUTH, Nnewi.