A clinicopathological study of Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans in Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria

Abstract

Background Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (dfsp) is a rare tumour originating from the dermis, it is slow growing, nodular, polypoid neoplasm that invade the subcutaneous tissue and does not usually  metastasis.Clinical presentation is not uniform and may mimic common tropical benign skin lesions.We intend to study the behaviour of this tumour in our environment .
Materails and method. A Clinicopathologic study of 36 cases of histologically diagnosed Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans in University Maiduguri Teaching Hospital was carried out.DFSP constitutes 3.05% of all cases of all cancers and 10.2 % of all skin cancers. The peak age incidence was the 4th and 6th decades with a median age 37.6 years. The males to female ratio was 2:1. The commonest site was the trunk 17(48.8%), followed by the lower limbs 8 (22.9%); upper limbs 6(17.1%); head and neck 3(8.6%) and buttock 1(2.9%) were not frequently affected..
Conclsusion: DFSP is a common lesion in our environment that warrants proper clinical assessment, and histological characterisation.