Twenty-five Zambians with leukaemias.

Twenty-five Zambians with leukaemias were diagnosed in three years in Ndola. Acute leukaemias were certainly under-diagnosed in children. The commonest leukaemia was chronic lymphatic leukaemia (CLL), seen in 6 males and 7 females: 3 females and 2 males were aged less than 45 years. The age and sex distribution of the leukaemias in Zambia appears to resemble those of other sub-Saharan tropical African countries. It is postulated that a retrovirus could be associated aetiologically with CLL in young adults.