FREQUENCY AND CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL PRESENTATION OF GYNAECOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES

Objectives: To describe the frequency and clinicopathological presentation of malignancies of the female genital tract presenting to a tertiary care hospital. Methodology: This descriptive study was carried out at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Unit A of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar from January 2008 to December 2012. A total of 4657 patients were admitted during the study period and all the patients having genital tract malignancies were included. Detailed history was taken and relevant examinations and investigations were carried out. Surgical procedures were performed where needed and specimens were sent for histopathology. Clinical and surgical staging was also carried out. All the details were noted down on a semi-structured proforma. Results: There were 43 cases of gynaecological malignancies with mean age of 43.74±15.51 years. Ovarian cancer was the most common (n=22, 51.22%) followed by uterine cancer (n=10, 23.33%). The majority of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancers (n=9/22, 40.94%) were nulliparous, whereas the majority of uterine and cervical cancers were multiparous (n=7/10, 70.0%) and grandmultiparous (n=7/9, 77.78%), respectively. Ovarian cancers mostly presented with an abdominal mass (n=16/22, 72.7%) while uterine and cervical cancer presented with irregular cycles (n=7/10, 70.0%) and post coital bleeding (n=4/10, 40%). Advanced stage cancer cases were 19/43 (44.22%). Serous cystadenocarcinoma was the most common ovarian malignancy (n=16/22, 72.73%) while endometrioid adenocarcinoma (n=9/10, 90%) was the most common uterine carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma was the most common cervical carcinoma (n=7/9, 77.88%). Conclusions: Ovarian cancer was the most commonly encountered malignancy although all gynaecological malignancies are rare.