Tumours and tumour-like conditions of the jaw seen in Zaria, Nigeria

Background: Tumours of the jaw may arise from the odontogenic tissues or from the non-odontogenic tissues. Many of the odontogenic tumours are considered as developmental rather than neoplastic. Method: The present study is a retrospective analysis of 246 tumours of the jaw seen in the Pathology Department of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria from 1987 – 1996. The tumours were classified according to World Health Organization international histological classification for odontogenic tumours. The cases were analyzed according to histological type, age and sex. Result: Jaw tumours formed 3.9% of all tumours seen in the department during the study period. Out of these 141 were benign and 105 were malignant. They had an almost equal sex ratio. The benign tumours were made up of the following histological types: - 48 (34.0%) ameloblastomas; 33 (23.4%) fibrous dysplasia; 31 (22.0%) cemento-osseous dysplasia; 9 (6.4%) myxomas; 8 (5.7%) ameloblastic fibroma; and 3 (2.1%) adenomatoid odontogenic tumours; and 9 (6.4%) unclassified tumours. The benign tumours had an overall M: F ratio of 1:1.3. About 94% of the ameloblastomas occurred in the mandible. The malignant jaw tumours were made up of the following histological types: - 79 (75.2%) malignant lymphoma; 10 (9.5%) osteogenic sarcomas; 2 (1.9%) chondrosarcoma; 1 (1.0%) malignant ameloblastoma and 6 (5.7%) secondary tumours, 7 (6.7%) were unclassified. The malignant jaw tumours had an overall M: F ratio of 1.5:1. The peak age for the malignant jaw tumours was the first decade. Malignant lymphoma shared a similar peak. Osteogenic sarcoma peaked in the fourth decade while the only case of malignant ameloblastoma was in the fifth decade. Eighty one percent of the jaw lymphomas were of Burkitt's type, 53.1% of which were within the age group 5 - 9 years. The other non-Burkitt's lymphomas were distributed between 5 to 60 years. Conclusions: Ameloblastoma is the commonest benign tumour of the jaw in Zaria, while Burkitt's lymphoma is the commonest malignant jaw tumour. The later occurs mainly in the first decade of life. Key words: Jaw tumours (Annals Af Med: 2002 1(2): 72-78