Author(s)

Efetobo Victor Orikpete¹, Babatunde Oludare Fakuade², Aliyu Ibrahim Lawan³, Olufemi Gbenga Omitola¹

¹Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
²Department of Dental/Maxillofacial Surgery, Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria.
³Department of Histopathology, Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria.

Background: Salivary gland tumours (SGTs) are rare, but recent reports suggest an increasing incidence. Although there are previous Nigerian studies on the patterns of SGTs, patterns and trends of disease may change over time. The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of presentation of SGTs, and to determine the trends in occurrence of SGTs at Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Gombe over a period of 15 years. Method: This descriptive study included cases of histologically diagnosed SGTs from January 2008 to December 2022. Relevant information (age, gender, site, year of diagnosis, and histopathologic diagnosis) was extracted from the cancer registers and histopathologic records. The lesions were then categorized into benign and malignant SGTs and grouped into three groups spanning 5 years each based on the year of diagnosis. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 23, and p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were 93 (61.2%) benign and 59 (38.8%) malignant SGTs. Benign SGTs had a mean age of 36.4 ± 13.6 years, and were more common in females (57.0%), and in the parotid (41.9%). Pleomorphic adenoma (94.6%) was the most common benign SGT. Malignant SGTs had a mean age of 44.5 ± 18.4 years, with male predilection (54.2%) and occurrence mostly in the palate (27.6%) and parotid (22.4%). Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (39.0%) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (32.2%) were the most frequent malignant SGTs. The mean age of occurrence of malignant SGTs was significantly higher than that of benign SGTs (p = 0.005). The trend analysis showed that there has been a steady rise in the proportion of males presenting with malignant SGTs. Similarly, there has been a steady increase in the frequency of benign SGTs in the parotid. The palate was the predominant site for the malignant SGTs between 2008 and 2012, but in the last five years (2018 to 2022), the parotid has become the predominant site. Over the duration of the study, the ratio of benign to malignant SGTs has remained relatively constant. Conclusion: While the overall pattern of presentation of SGTs in Gombe is similar to reports in the literature, this study has identified some changes in trends over the years.

Salivary Gland Tumour, Trend, Pattern, Pleomorphic Adenoma, Nigeria

Orikpete, E. , Fakuade, B. , Lawan, A. and Omitola, O. (2023) Pattern and Trends in the Presentation of Salivary Gland Tumours in a Tertiary Centre in Gombe, Northeast Nigeria. Open Journal of Pathology, 13, 164-176. doi: 10.4236/ojpathology.2023.133017.