Presents and analyses the large body of data collected during one of the earliest projects aimed at defining the incidence of cancer in an African population. Data, which are assessed over a 15-year period, were collected using a standard questionnaire during close to 9,500 interviews with cancer patients. The collection of data on demographic, occupational, and reproductive factors supports a number of important observations concerning both traditional risk factors and other factors characteristic of an African population not long removed from an entirely rural lifestyle.
Data from the Bulawayo Cancer Registry are presented and discussed with the aim of stimulating further research on the causes of cancer and methods of prevention in Africa populations. Particular attention is given to factors that might help explain the unusual nature of certain tumours seen in this population and the differences in cancer patterns observed in comparison with findings in western populations.
