Primary malignant bone tumour in a tropical African University teaching hospital

Bone tumours are relatively rare tumours as compared with all other tumours. The relative frequency has not been well documented in this environment. The aim of the study was to define the frequency of primary malignant bone tumours in an African University teaching hospital in Ibadan. The medical records of 114 patients with malignant bone tumours recorded in the Cancer Registry of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria between January 1977 and December 2000 were reviewed retrospectively. Primary malignant bone tumours represented 0.53% of all the 21390 cancers seen in the teaching hospital in the period studied, with a male female ratio of 1.4:1. About 45% oftumours occurred among patients < 20 years of age. Osteogenic sarcoma was the most common primary malignant bone tumour while the mandible was the most commonly affected bone. In contrast to previous studies, Burkitt's lymphoma affected the mandible more commonly than the maxilla. The relative frequency of primary malignant bone tumours is low in our environment as observed in other developing countries.