The pattern of malignant tumours of the liver in a tertiary health institution in Nigeria.

This study aims at establishing the histopathological pattern of liver cancers reported in the Department of Pathology, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital between January 1979 and December 1996. Histopathological slides and duplicate copies of reports were retrieved and re-examined while fresh sections were processed from original paraffin blocks when necessary. Liver cancers constituted 56.6% of all liver biopsies. Hepatocellular carcinoma, which was commonest in the fifth decade, occurred in 64.1%, while metastatic tumours, which were commonest in the sixth decade, accounted for 24.7%. Primary sites could only be determined in 5 out of the 35 metastatic tumours. The age range of patients with Burkitt's lymphoma was 6-17 years with an average of 10.8 years and a male/female ratio of 3:2. Overall, there was preponderance of hepatocellular carcinoma in males while metastatic tumours were commoner in females. The pattern of Burkitt's lymphoma demonstrated in this study agrees with what generally obtains for endemic Burkitt's lymphoma in this environment.