Cancer in Kampala: A Survey in an Underdeveloped Country

The incidence of cancer amongst the indigenous inhabitants of the African continent has not been established in any area, and estimates have varied from the old statement of Cook (1901) that in Uganda cancer was probably as common as in England, to a recent statement by John G?nther (1955) that cancer is almost unknown in Africans. Reports of biopsy and necropsy studies from various parts of Africa (see Steiner, 1954) have suggested that the types and sites of cancer vary considerably in their frequency from those seen in Europe or America. The differences have not as yet been brought out clearly, but they are of general and of local importance. If differences could be clearly demonstrated they might throw light on possible environ mental causes of cancer, and the information gained would be of considerable use in local diagnosis and treatment.