Background: Tumors of the testis and paratesticular tissues are rare, especially in men of African descent. In recent reviews
however, the incidence is rising among the Caucasians and black Americans. We set out to determine the incidence in SouthWestern
Nigeria and to examine the histopathologic variants.
Methods: A retrospective study of patients who had histopathologically confirmed testicular and para-testicular tumours
between 1989 and 2005 (17 years). Their records were documented at the Ife-Ijesha cancer registry which serves 4.7 million
men residing in three states of South-Western Nigeria.
†Results: There were 26 cases of testicular and para-testicular tumors with an average incidence of 1.5 cases per year. The
incidence of testicular cancer in our study was 0.55 per 100,000 population (95% CI, 0.52- 0.57) and accounted for 1.1% of
all male cancers.†Rhabdomyosarcomas were the most common variety (70% of the paratesticular tumors and 26.8% of all
tumors of the testis).† Seminomas comprised 50% of the germ cell tumors and 15.4% of all testicular tumors in this series.
Conclusion: There still remains a low incidence of testis cancer in the South Western Nigeria. The reduction in the incidence
of seminomas makes rhabdomyosarcomas the most predominant tumor in South Western Nigeria.