A survey of malignant disease in Zaire

Over a period of 13 years 794 patients were seen with confirmed malignant disease at the Centre Medical Evangelique hospital at Nyankunde in north-eastern Zaire, which services a population of approximately 500 000. Malignant disease of the skin accounts for 24% of the total number of malignancies. The commonest tumour in women, as in the West, is breast cancer. Among males, however, Kaposi's sarcoma makes up 15% of all male malignancy and malignant melanoma another 7%, giving a contrasting picture to developed nations. In both types of malignancy the majority of cases presented with foot primaries. Patients with Kaposi's sarcoma tended to be younger than those with malignant melanoma. There appears to be no marked change in frequency of either Kaposi's sarcoma or malignant melanoma, in contrast with the sharply rising incidence in Western populations.