For more than 20 years, organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), primarily chlordecone, were used in Martinique to control the banana weevil. Scientific uncertainties regarding the health consequences of human exposure to OCPs have raised significant medical and social concerns in Martinique. In this context, a cancer incidence study was conducted by the Cancer Registry and the Interregional Epidemiology Unit (CIRE) of the Antilles-Guyana region. The objectives of this study were to investigate: - the spatial distribution of cancer cases that may be linked to pesticide exposure; - the possible existence of an association between the spatial distribution of these cancers and potential population exposure. A literature review was used to identify cancers whose occurrence could be linked to pesticide exposure in both adults and children. Cancer incidence data were obtained from the Martinique Cancer Registry for the period 1981–2000. Exposure of the Martinique population to POPs was estimated by mapping areas potentially contaminated with chlordecone, as established by the Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières (BRGM). Only the spatial distribution of multiple myeloma incidence exhibits a specific geographic pattern in relation to potential exposure to POPs. For all other cancer sites studied, no specific spatial distribution was identified. These results should be interpreted with caution given the data used, but they allow us to conclude that there is no POC-related cancer epidemic in Martinique. (R.A.)