ORAL MALIGNANCIES IN ILE-IFE, NIGERIA

Fifty nine patients with histologically confirmed cases of oral malign ant neoplasia were included in this study, There was a male prepondera nce with the male to female ratio being 2.5 to 1.0. The average waitin g period before presentation was 8.9 +/- 6.5 months (range: two to 24 months), Squamous cell carcinoma was the predominant variety, 50.8%, o f all malignancies recorded, The alveolar ridge and the gingivae were the commonest sites accounting for 40.7% of all cases, Majority of the patients with squamous cell carcinoma, (80.8%), presented with stage IV of this disease, The pattern of oral malignancies in the population studied appears slightly different from earlier observations in Weste rn Europe and Asia, The necessity to strengthen research on the epidem iology of the disease in Nigeria and other African countries is highli ghted.