<i>Fusarium moniliforme</i>and Fumonisins in Corn in Relation to Human Esophageal Cancer in Transkei

Abstract

Homegrown corn samples were collected from areas with high and low rates of human esophageal cancer in the southern African territory of Transkei for six seasons over the period of 1976-1989. The most consistent difference in the mycoflora of the corn kernels was the significantly higher incidence of Fusarium moniliforme in corn from high-vs. low-rate areas. In the 1989 samples, this significant (P<0.01) difference in high- and low-rate cancer areas was 41.2 and 8.9%, respectively, in good (visibly nonmoldy) corn and 61.7 and 21.4%, respectively (...)