Endometrial cancer in zaria, nigeria: a twenty year histopathological analysis (1991 - 2010)

Background: Cancer has become a major global public health problem. There are approximately 150,000 cases of endometrial cancer diagnosed each year, making endometrial carcinoma the fifth most common cancer in women. The predisposing factor was linked to reproductive history with duration and type of oestrogen exposure. Endometrial cancer is often diagnosed early. There has not been a comprehensive clinico-pathological study/ documentation of endometrial cancer in the study center. Materials and Method: This is a retrospective histopathological review of endometrial cancer seen over 20- year period obtained from endometrial curettage and hysterectomy specimens submitted to the Department of pathology. Histology slides were retrieved, reviewed and classified using the WHO classification of tumours of the endometrium. Analysis of the collected data was carried out using SPSS Version 15.0, and data were presented in frequency distribution tables and figures. Result: A total of 1,505 cases were diagnosed as malignant lesions of the female genital tract with the endometrial cancer represent 4.4% of the malignancies. Majority of endometrial cancer were epithelial 69.7 %, 21.7 % were grade I tumours, grade II tumours 50.0 % and grade III 28.3 % of the cases. Stromal sarcoma 19.7% of these 61.5 % were high grade stromal sarcoma, 38.5 %, low grade stromal sarcoma and Malignant Mixed Mesodermal Tumours accounted for 10.6 % cases. The age range was from 24 to 80 years. With peak age of incidence in 5th and 6th decades. Most of the endometrial cancers were diagnosed by endometrial biopsies 63.6% while the rest by total abdominal hysterectomy 36.4 %. Conclusion: Endometrial cancer represented 4.4 % of the female genital tract malignancies within the study period with possible early exposure to the aetiological factors and epithelial tumour are commoner than Malignant Mixed Mesodermal Tumours.