Salivary gland tumours: a 15-year review at the Dental Centre Lagos University Teaching Hospital

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency of tumors of the salivary gland seen at the Dental Centre, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria over a period of 15 years. All cases that were histologically diagnosed as salivary gland tumors from January 1990 to December 2004 were retrieved from the histopathology records of the Department of Oral Pathology and Biology and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. All the cases were subjected to analysis of age, sex, site of occurrence and histologic diagnosis based on 1991 World Health Organization (WHO) classification. Salivary gland constituted 6.3% of all oro-facial tumors and tumor-like lesions. The frequency of malignant tumors was 60.8% (n=73) and benign tumors 39.2% (n=47). Minor salivary glands (63.3%) were mostly affected. The male-tofemale ratio was 1.1:1, and most (72.5%) of the tumors occurred in the age group of 21-60 years. Pleomorphic adenoma was the most commonly occurring tumor (29.2%) followed by adenoid cystic carcinoma (19.2%). The predominant benign and malignant tumors were pleomorphic adenoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma respectively. Palate (45.8%>) was the most frequently affected site. The mean age (±SD) of patients with benign tumors was significantly lower than those with malignant tumors (P=0.003). The incidence of salivary gland tumors in this study is higher than in most previous reports. Malignant tumors which occurred in older age group were the most commonly seen.