Prostate Cancer Incidence in Guadeloupe, a French Caribbean Archipelago

Objective: To determine the incidence rate of prostate cancer in Guadeloupe, a French Caribbean archipelago with 420,000 inhabitants, 90% of whom are of African descent.

Methods: All new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed from 1995 to 2003 were identified from the records of all public and private pathology laboratories. We studied changes in incidence rate over time by calculating incidence rates and cumulative risk, standardized to the World Standard Population, and comparing them with the rates in other countries.

Results: 2531 new cases of prostate cancer, all pathologically confirmed, were recorded from 1995 to 2003. For 2003, there were 427 new cases, corresponding to a world age-standardized incidence rate, and cumulative risk up to 74 years of age of 168.7 per 100,000 and 20%, respectively.

Conclusions: Guadeloupe has one of the highest incidences of prostate cancer in the world. The geographic and environmental characteristics of Guadeloupe make this area unique and should shed new light on the role of genetic and environmental factors in prostate cancer.