Pattern of Skin Tumours Seen in Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (Rsuth), Portharcourt Nigeria: A 12 Year Retrospective Study

Background: Cancers are known to be on the increase in Nigeria. This has been attributed to the rise in oil exploration in the nation. The Niger Delta region faces a lot of oil spillage and is highly vulnerable to the effects of this spillage which includes health disorders like cancers.

Objective: To document the incidence of skin tumours (benign and malignant) over a 12-year period in the Dermatology Out-patient clinic of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port-Harcourt, Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: The data was taken from new patient registers in the dermatology out-patient clinic and analysed.

Results: Skin Tumours consists of 5.3% of all dermatological diagnoses within the period. The M: F ratio was 1:1. Benign tumours made up 81.4% of cases and pre-malignant tumours 0.98% The commonest benign tumour is keloids (28.9%). Malignant skin cancers constituted 17.6% of the cases with Kaposi sarcoma (9.8%), metastatic skin cancer (2.9%) and squamous cell carcinoma (2%) being the commonest skin cancers. The young adult age group (20-44) constituted majority (65.7%) of those affected with skin tumours.

Conclusion: There is a relative low prevalence of skin tumours among patients attending the skin clinic in RSUTH (5.3%). The Commonest benign tumor is Keloids while the commonest malignant tumour is Kaposi sarcoma.