Incidence and treatment of cancer of the lip in Malta

Abstract

Cancer of the lip is a condition which can be diagnosed at an early stage. If treated efficiently it carries an excellent prognosis. A brief account of its incidence in Malta and of the mode of treatment currently being adopted is presented. During a five year period from 1963 to 1967, there were 90 new cases diagnosed. This gives an average incidence of 18 new cases every year. If we take our population as being 300,000, we therefore have an incidence of 6 per 100,000. This is a comparatively high figure when compared to other parts of the world. Investigation into possible etiological factors has not been profitable. None of our patients had ever smoked clay pipes; only five of them were wooden-pipe smokers. The majority were moderately heavy cigarette smokers, but no more so than the general healthy population. 75% of the patients held, or had held for many years, full-time outdoor occupation, and the commonest incidence was in farmers, fishermen and stonemasons. This would appear to confirm that excessive exposure to actinic rays plays an etiological part.