Primary extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the upper aerodigestive tract--a descriptive analysis of the pattern seen in the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

This retrospective review highlights primary extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), of the upper aerodigestive tract as seen in Ibadan over a ten-year period. There was a male preponderance (m:f ratio of 2:1), with a mean age of 42.5 years and a bimodal age presentation at the fourth and fifth decades. The Waldeyer's ring was the commonest affected site while the tonsil is the highest involved subsite. Sixty-eight percent of the patients had regional lymphadenopathy and thirty eight percent also 'B' symptom at presentation. The peculiar presentations of this NHL are the short duration (10 months) of symptoms, mainly intermediate/high grade diffuse large cell lymphoma especially in the Waldeyer's ring and sinonasal region with absence of low-grade small cell lymphoma. The majority of patients (64.3%) presented with Stage IV disease, which shows that the disease has an aggressive course with high mortality and generally poor outcome with 53.6% of the patients dead within one-year onset of symptoms. The overall mean survival period was 14 months. Comparison of the median survival of the patients that died when matched with the site, Ann Arbor staging, histological grade/subtype and treatment modality yielded no significant differences. These further confirm the aggressive nature of the disease in our environment.