Cancer incidence and mortality in Antigua/Barbuda

An inquiry into the incidence and mortality of malignant neoplasms in Antigua/Barbuda was undertaken to document the magnitude of the disease. The top ranking cancers diagnosed in 114 males were skin (26.3 percent), prostate (22.8 percent) and upper respiratory and alimentary tract (10.5 percent). In 130 females, the 3 main cancers were breast (23.1 percent), cervix uteri (22.3 percent), and skin (15.3 percent). The main cancers causing death were stomach (22.3 percent ) and prostate (17.8 percent) in 157 males; and breast (18.2 percent) and cervix uteri (14.1 percent) in 149 females. Imprecise documentation, insufficient clinico-pathological correlation and the finding of advanced cancers underscore the need for a cancer registry and cancer society in Antigua/Barbuda. (AU)

Some aspects of malignant disease of the upper respiratory tract

Surgical biopsy material submitted by the Department of Otolaryngology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados, to the Department of Pathology of that hospital from 1st Nov., 1965, to 15th March, 1967 is reviewed. (The beginning of the period chosen coincided with the setting up of a Department of Otolaryngology in that hospital under the direction of a qualified specialist Otolaryngologist). The total number accessions was 130 and of these 22 were malignant neoplasms of the upper respiratory tract. These are classified according to their anatomical location and histological characteristics. During the period under review, the total number of surgical biopsy specimens submitted to the Department of Pathology for examination was 1,500, and the total number of malignant neoplasms that were diagnosed histologically was 300. Malignant neoplasms of the upper respiratory tract thus represented 7.3 per cent of all the malignant tumours submitted for histological examination. The incidence and microscopic features of these neoplasms in Barbados and their histological gradings are compared with the findings of Bras and his co-workers in Jamaica in their paper on the Incidence of malignant neoplasms in that island, of Edington and Maclean's cancer survey in Western Nigeria, Davies' figures for cancer in Uganda and Cabrera's figures for cancer in the Congo. Some of the more interesting of the malignant neoplasms in the series studied are described in greater detail, including a malignant melanoma presenting in the oropharynx, a sarcoma-like tumour in the glottis and a chemodectoma found within the larynx (AU)