Space-time clustering of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Greenland Eskimos

Abstract

Evidence of epidemicity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) was sought in Greenland Inuits, who have a high incidence of this cancer, by examining the births of NPC cases for evidence of clustering in time and space. Births of cases were concentrated in autumn and winter. Fifty-four cases were analysed, and a two-fold excess of clustering within one year was observed, both within single districts and between adjacent districts. This excess was not significant at the 5% level; about 90 cases would have been required to confirm the observed effect at this level of significance. It is suggested that a search for space-time clustering of NPC cases in larger high-risk populations might prove more fruitful.