title: Studies on nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the Sudan--I. Epidemiology and Aetiology.
abstract: Three hundred and seventy-four cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) recorded in the Sudan Cancer Registry (SCR) and 512 cases seen at the Radiation and Isotope Centre, Khartoum (RICK) were analysed. NPC formed 5.8% of all cancer cases in the SCR and 7.2% at the RICK; this is the highest frequency so far reported outside the Chinese. The male/female ratio was 3:1; NPC was the commonest tumour in males at the RICK (12.1%) and second commonest in the SCR (9.2%). It tended to occur in younger patients (youngest, 3 yr), with 14 and 12.1% of cases in children 14 yr or under in the SCR and RICK respectively; it is the commonest childhood malignancy in the Sudan. The ethnic and geographical distribution of the cases showed that racial susceptibility played a significant role in the aetiology of NPC in the Sudan whereas environmental factors could be excluded; however, Epstein-Barr virus might be an exciting factor.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001789:Blood Group Antigens; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013397:Sudan
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D001789:Blood Group Antigens