Incidence Rates of Cancer in Kyadondo County, Uganda, 1954–1960

Abstract

The results of a 7-year (1954–60) survey of cancer in Kampala, Uganda, East Africa, are reported. The site and type pattern of cancer in Uganda differs from that of Western countries and even from that of other parts of Africa. There were notable deficiencies of those cancers that produce the rapid rise in cancer incidence rates with age in Western communities, and though the cancer incidence in Uganda rose with age in the younger age groups it leveled off, and then fell in the older age groups. The implications of these findings are discussed. They point to the overwhelming importance of environmental factors as producers of cancer, and the hope is expressed that much human cancer, particularly in the older age groups, may be preventable.