A review of 640 Oral squamous cell carcinoma cases in Nigeria

BACKGROUND Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent malignant neoplasm in the oral cavity and accounts for 70% to 90% of all oral malignant neoplasms. The aim of this study was to examine the demographic distribution of OSCC in five Tertiary Health centres in Nigeria. MATERIAL AND METHODS All cases diagnosed as OSCC during the period from 1970 -2014 were retrieved from the records of five teaching hospitals in Nigeria. Hematoxylin and eosin stained histological slides of all cases that had a diagnosis of OSCC were reviewed for confirmation and inclusion. Data from all the centers was collated at the University College Hospital, Ibadan by 2 researchers. The data was entered into and analyzed with the SPSS for Windows (version 20.0; SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL). Simple descriptive and comparative analyses were done, with the test of statistical significance set at p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS A total of 640 cases of OSCC were seen out of 1560 oral malignant neoplasms representing 41% of all the oral malignancies seen. The mean age of occurence of OSCC was 55.5 (±17.0) years and a peak age incidence in the sixth and seventh decades of life. OSCC occurred more in males (60.9%) than females (39.1%) with a male: female ratio of 1.6:1. The well differentiated OSCC with 309 (48.3%) cases, was the most common grade, while the moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated OSCC accounted for 232 (36.2%) and 92 (14.4%) cases respectively. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that OSCC is more common in males, most commonly seen in the 60-69 age group and the commonest site of occurrence was the mandibular mucosa. The well differentiated OSCC was the most common histology sub-type. Key words:Oral squamous cell carcinoma, tongue, palate, mandible.