Summary
Kenya is a country of marked environmental and ethnic diversity. A study of osteogenic sarcoma occurring in Kenya from 1968 to 1978 revealed 251 cases, representing between 89% and 100% of the predicted number. Variations in age, sex and anatomical location were within classical limits. However, the incidence of osteogenic sarcoma amongst the Central Bantu was significantly higher than predicted (P<0.0001), whilst the incidence among the Western Bantu was significantly lower (P<0.002), despite their similar ethnic origins. Two geographically dissimilar areas likewise exhibited significant differences in incidence. The Eastern province showed a higher incidence (P<0.02), whereas the Nyanza Province (P<0.001) and the adjacent Western Province (P<0.005) showed a lower than predicted incidence. These observations suggest that in Kenya a geomedical variable affects the incidence of osteogenic sarcoma and that genetic variation has no effect on incidence.
Résumé
Le Kenya est un pays d'une grande diversité ethnique et géographique. L'étude du sarcome ostéogénique au Kenya a recensé 251 cas de 1968 à 1978, ce qui représente 89 à 100% du nombre prévisible. Les variations selon l'âge, le sexe et la localisation anatomique sont dans les limites classiques. Cependant, la fréquence du sarcome ostéogénique chez les Bantous du centre est significativement plus élevée que prévu (p<0,0001), tandis qu'elle est significativement plus faible (p<0,002) chez les Bantous de l'ouest, malgré une origine ethnique semblable. De même deux régions géographiquement dissemblables présentent des différences de fréquence significatives. Elle est plus élevée que prévu dans la province de l'est (p<0,02) alors qu'elle est inférieure dans la province de Nyanza (p<0,001) et dans la province voisine de l'ouest (p<0,005). Ces observations permettent de penser qu'au Kenya les variables géomédicales influent sur la fréquence du sarcome ostéogénique et non les variables génétiques.
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This study was supported in part by a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship (E.G.B.), International Communication Agency, U. S. State Department, 1979–1980
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Bovill, E.G., Kung'u, A., Bencivenga, A. et al. An epidemiological study of osteogenic sarcoma in Kenya. International Orthopaedics 9, 59–63 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00267039
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00267039