CANCER IN GABON, 1984-1993 - A PATHOLOGY REGISTRY BASED RELATIVE FREQUENCY STUDY

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.