Report on 151 childhood malignancies observed in Jamaica

ABSTRACT

During a 10-year period 1958-67, 151 tumors were noted in children under 15 years of age in Jamaica. This comprised 2.9 percent of all malignant tumors observed. Leukemia was the most common form of cancer. The incidence of retinoblastomas was high and surpassed incidences of neuroblastomas and of Wilms' tumors. Kaposi's sarcoma was not observed, and hepatocellular carcinoma was extremely rare. The tumor incidence pattern in Jamaica therefore largely resembles that in the United States and in Western Europe. It contrasts significantly with that in Uganda and in Western Nigeria. This merits attention, since over 90 percent of the Jamaican population is either pure Negro or of predominantly Negro descent as a result of importation from West Africa in former days. (Summary)