The Pattern of Orofacial Lymphoma and Their Histopathologic Subtypes Among Children in a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Lymphomas are heterogeneous group of malignant tumours of the hematopoietic system and are characterized by the aberrant proliferation of mature lymphoid cells or their precursor. Lymphoma of the orofacial region constitute one of the commonest malignancies in childhood.

Objective: To determine the frequency and pattern of lymphomas and the different histopathological subtypes in the orofacial region in Nigerian children.

Method: A retrospective study of all histopathologically diagnosed lymphomas of the orofacial region in children of 16years and below seen within a 15-year period, (2008 to 2022). Data were retrieved from the archives of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and Medicine, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, for statistical analysis.

Results: Overall, a total of 105 neoplastic lesions were seen in children within the study period. Lymphoma constituted 32.4% (n = 34) and were the most frequent of all the neoplasms. Of the Lymphomas, there were 25 (73.5%) males and 9 (26.5%) females with a male to female ratio of 2.8:1. The histopathologic types of lymphoma were non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). The subtypes were the Burkitt’s lymphoma type (22; 64.7%), the diffused NHL lymphoma (11; 32.4%) and the follicular lymphoma (1; 2.9%).

Conclusion: Orofacial lymphoma among children in Southern Nigeria were mostly seen in males with the mandible been the commonest site. All the cases of orofacial lymphoma were NHL with Burkitt lymphoma as the commonest subtype.