Cancer of the oral cavity in Nigerian Igbos.

An unselected biopsy material of 31 Nigerian Igbo patients with cancer of the oral cavity is presented. The descending order of localization was gingiva, palate, tongue and floor of mouth. Burkitt's tumour was limited to the jaw and affected older rather than younger children. There was scarcely any preponderance of squamous cell carcinoma in males. It would appear that cancer of the oral cavity is not a great problem in the Igbos and that potent carcinogens concerned with the causation are lacking in the community.