Cancer in the Gambia: 1988-97

We describe the incidence of cancer in The Gambia over a 10-year period usi ng data collected through the Gambian National Cancer Registry. Major probl ems involved with cancer registration in a developing country, specifically in Africa are discussed. The data accumulated show a low overall rate of c ancer incidence compared to more developed parts of the world. The overall age standardized incidence rates (ASR) were 61.0 and 55.7 per 100 000 for m ales and females, respectively. In males, liver cancer was most frequent, c omprising 58% of cases (ASR 35.7) followed by non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 5.4% (A SR 2.4), lung 4.0%, (ASR 2.8) and prostate 3.3% (ASR 2.5) cancers. The most frequent cancers in females were cervix uteri 34.0% (ASR 18.9), liver 19.4 % (ASR 11.2), breast 9.2% (ASR 5.5) and ovary 3.2% (ASR 1.6). The data indi cate that cancers of the liver and cervix are the most prevalent cancers, a nd are likely to be due to infectious agents. It is hoped that immunization of children under 1 year against hepatitis B will drastically reduce the i ncidence of liver cancer in The Gambia. (C) 2001 Cancer Research Campaign.