Neoplasms of the central nervous system. incidence and population selectivity in the Washington DC, metropolitan area

During the period 1960 through 1969, 990 primary neoplasms of the central nervous system were diagnosed in hospitals in the Washington, DC, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). All cases were identified according to age, race, sex, histologic type, and date of diagnosis. A West African composite of 253 cases was used for comparison. In the Washington SMSA, the age-adjusted incidence rates were: for Caucasians 5.5 in males and 3.6 in females and for Negroes 4.8 in males and 3.4 in females per 100,000 annual population. Caucasians in the Washington SMSA had a higher relative proportion of gliomas than Negroes in the same area and in Africa (p less than 0.005). The relative proportion of pituitary adenomas was higher in American Negroes (p less than 0.005) and in Africans than in Caucasians. The comparable pattern of CNS tumors in American and African Negroes, relative to Caucasians, suggests that in the development of neoplasms of the central nervous system racial factors may be of importance.