A pathology based cancer registry was established in 1977 in the patho
logy department of the faculty of health sciences of the University of
Omar Bongo in Libreville, Gabon, which is the only pathology service
catering to the needs of the population of approximately 1 million of
Gabon. Analysis of the histologically diagnosed cancers during 1984 th
rough 1993 revealed 1,367 male and 1,235 female cases. The leading sit
es in males were: skin (11.0%), liver (8.9%), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (
8.7%), prostate (7.8%), lung (6.9%), mouth (4.9%) and tongue (4.7%). T
he predominant sites in females were: uterine cenix (26.3%), breast (1
3.9%), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (7.1%), skin (5.1%), liver (3.9%) and ov
ary (3.3%). Considering the little information available on cancer pat
terns in Africa, even relative frequency data for different periods fr
om different sources are of considerable interest. We propose to estab
lish population based cancer registration in Libreville (pop 400,000)
where 40% of the national population Lives, in the near future, which
should provide reliable information on the cancer burden and patterns
in Gabon.