| dc.description.abstract | THE INAUGURAL LECTURES SERIES was started in the
days of the University of East Africa when it was
a tradition of the then University College Nairobi
to have its newly appointed Professors deliver
their first public Lecture in Nairobi. The Univerity
of Nairobi has now started their new series
Lectures and in an attempt to have these
memorable lectures well documented and preserved,
the University Deans' Committee has granted
funds for its publication. This is the first of such
a series and will be available on sale at bookstores.
Cancer is a world-wide problem, but its distribution
shows marked geographic variations. This
is particularly evident in Africa where some
turn ours are found to be very common in certain
areas. It is probable that this indicates the presence
of cancer-producing factors in the environment,
and in Africa there is an opportunity to
investigate this relationship. Already, notable
advances have been made in implicating a virus
as a cause of the childhood tumour, Burkitt's
lymphoma; current research points to the possibility
of a chemical cause for cancer of the oesophagus
which is particularly common in Nyanza; and
both viral and chemical causes may be involved
in the common cancer of the liver.
These three cancers are selected from the
tumours which are commonly seen in Kenya, and
rof. Hector M. Cameron dynamically illustrates
.he probable role of the environment in their
genesis. | en |
