Adult malignant lymphomas in University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria- Incidence and survival

Abstract

Background: The occurrence of malignant lymphomas is worldwide and its incidence has being increasing, ranked 12th among all cancers worldwide. We aim to determine the incidence and survival of the lymphoma patients in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Study design: A study of 205 cases of lymphoma patients from 1993 to 2003. One-year survival was calculated using simple percentage of those alive and those that died before 1year of diagnosis.

Results: A total of 205 patients aged 18-72years were studied. Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) was the most frequent (83%) while Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) had an incidence of 17%. The 1year survival for patients with NHL and HL was 35.3% and 42.9% respectively. We found a strong association between haemoglobin (Hb) and white blood cell count (WBC) at presentation and 1year survival in NHL patients (P=0.0003;P=0.0001) and HL patients (P=0.0001;P=0.0104) respectively. Also, the mean Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) for lymphoma patients alive at 1year was significantly lower than those that died within 1year (P=0.0001). Duration of illness before presentation was found to influence 1year survival.

Conclusion: We conclude that NHL was the most common of the lymphoma seen in young adulthood in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A positive correlation between survival and duration of illness at presentation and haematological counts was found. The 1year survival is still very poor and this may not be unconnected with late presentation and other strong limiting factors.
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Keywords: Lymphoma; incidence; survival (Date accepted 6 April 2006)

Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol.10 (1) 2007: pp.10-14