Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the pattern of malignant diseases seen at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital over a 20-year period (January 1980-December 1999). A total of 2258 histologically confirmed malignant diseases were seen with the predominant tumours comprising carcinoma of the cervix (20.59%), breast (18.25%), prostate (7.13%), endometrium (6.47%) and colon and rectum (5.71%). We believe that the figure reported here represents an underestimate of the frequency of malignant tumours seen in the hospital and recommend the establishment of hospital - and population-based cancer registries to ensure proper documentation of malignant diseases within the region.