Dietary aflatoxins and human liver cancer. A study in Swaziland

Abstract

A study in Swaziland to assess the possible relationship of aflatoxin contamination and the incidence of primary liver cancer is reported. Aflatoxin ingestion levels have been determined in “food from the plate” samples collected over a 1-year period. A significant correlation between the calculated ingested daily dose and the adult male incidence of primary liver cancer in different parts of Swaziland has been established. Samples of foodstuffs other than the plate samples also reflected the correlation of aflatoxin contamination and liver cancer. This study extends and amplifies the findings of an earlier study in the Murang'a district of Kenya and supports the hypothesis that aflatoxin ingestion is a factor in the genesis of primary liver cancer in Africa.