Cancer in Gabon, 1984-1993: a pathology registry based relative frequency study

A pathology based cancer registry was established in 1977 in the pathology department of the faculty of health sciences of the University of Omar Bongo in Librevile, Gabon, which is the only pathology service catering to the needs of the population of approximately 1 million of Gabon. Analysis of the histologically diagnosed cancers during 1984 through 1993 revealed 1,367 male and 1,235 female cases. The leading sites in males were: skin (11.0%), liver (8.9%), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (8.7%), prostate (7.8%), lung (6.9%), mouth (4.9%) and tongue (4.7%). The predominant sites in females were: uterine cervix (26.3%), breast (13.9%), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (7.1%), skin (5.1%), liver (3.9%) and ovary (3.3%). Considering the little information available on cancer patterns in Africa, even relative frequency data for different periods from different sources are of considerable interest. We propose to establish population based cancer registration in Libreville (pop 400,000) where 40% of the national population lives, in the near future, which should provide reliable information on the cancer burden and patterns in Gabon.