Histopathologic Pattern of Oropharyngeal Tumours Among Patients Seen in National Ear Care Centre, Kaduna: A 10 Year Retrospective Study From 2014-2023

Oropharyngeal tumours including squamous cell carcinoma, tonsil cancer, benign and inflammatory lesions are a group of diseases with abnormal cells that have potential to grow locally and spread to other parts of the body mainly found in the oral cavity. Oral and pharyngeal cancer, grouped together, is the sixth most common cancer in the world. This research aims to investigate the histopathologic pattern of oropharyngeal tumours retrospectively for 10 years among patients seen in National Ear Care Centre. Records were taken retrospectively from the Histopathology unit register (2014-2023) for all patients that have undergone oropharyngeal surgeries and local excisions to obtain tissues biopsies for histopathological analyses following standard operating procedures. A total of 1543 cases were diagnosed, 10 of which were malignant including different grades of carcinomas, 1532 were benign out of which adeno-tonsillar hyperplasia, Lobular Capillary Haemangioma, Pleomorphic Adenoma and Squamous Papilloma were diagnosed, Lastly, a case of chronic inflammation was also recorded. Sites of excision included 1518 from the adeno-tonsillar regions, 2 from the Pharynx, subglottic and uvula, 4 from the Parotid and supra-glottic, 6 from the Vocal cord, 3 from the Aural metastasis, 1 each of Tongue mass and Vallecular cyst. Eight hundred and thirty-two (832) were males while Seven hundred and eleven (711) were females. The year 2023 recorded the highest number of cases in the age ranges of 0-9 years. It can therefore be concluded that histopathological analyses are very paramount in the diagnoses, research, collation and classification of oropharyngeal tumours.