List of cancer clusters
This is a list of cancer clusters . A cancer cluster is a statistical event, which may or may not have a cause other than chance. There are other cancer clusters that occur without any obvious source of carcinogens.
North America
Date
Disease
Location
Number of cases
Cause
References
1917–1927
Osteosarcoma
New Jersey , Connecticut , Illinois
86
Radium
[ 1] [ 2]
1938–1971
Adenocarcinoma
U.S.
750
Diethylstilbestrol
[ 3] [ 4]
?–2018
Various cancers
St. Louis, Missouri
56
Uranium
[ 5]
1967–1973
Liver angiosarcoma (Hemangiosarcoma )
Louisville, Kentucky
4
Vinyl chloride monomer
[ 6]
1968–1995
Leukemia , Lymphoma
Camp Lejeune , North Carolina
13[ note 1]
Trichloroethylene 1,2-Dichloroethylene Tetrachloroethylene Methylene chloride Vinyl chloride
[ 8] [ 7]
1979–1996
Brain , CNS cancer
Toms River, New Jersey
90+
SAN trimerStyrene Acrylonitrile
[ 9] [ 10] [ 11]
1973–1986
Leukemia
Woburn, Massachusetts
21
Chloroform Tetrachloroethylene Trichloroethylene 1,2-Dichloroethene Arsenic
[ 12] [ 13]
1982–1984
Testicular cancer
Fulton County, New York
3
Dimethylformamide (DMF)2-Ethoxyethanol 2-Ethoxyethyl acetate 2-Butoxyethanol
[ 14]
1987–1999
Brain cancer , Leukemia , Lymphoma
Wilmington, Massachusetts
20
Unknown N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA)
[ 15] [ 16] [ 17]
1993–2008
Childhood brain cancer , brain tumors , colon cancer, anal cancer, rectal cancer, breast cancer. Also nervous system damaged.
The Acreage, Florida
Unknown
Unknown Some have linked it to a nearby Pratt and Whitney , Beach Aggregates, and the Florida crystals.
[ 18]
1997–2002
Leukemia , rhabdomyosarcoma
Fallon, Nevada
17
Unknown Tungsten Arsenic Chlorpyrifos Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE)Benzene in jet fuel
[ 19] [ 20] [ 21] [ 22]
1996–2013
Leukemia , brain tumors , lymphoma , other forms
Clyde, Ohio
36, mostly children
Unknown
[ 23]
1953–2010
Wide range of cancers
Shannon, Quebec
400
Trichloroethylene
[ 24] [ 25]
2009-2024
Wide range of cancers, predominantly breast cancer
Raleigh, NC
99
Aroclor 1262, a commercial mixture of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds
37
Europe
Date
Disease
Location
Number of cases
Cause
References
1968–1995
Leukemia
Seascale , Sellafield , England
9
Unsure Studies indicate a correlation with paternal preconceptional irradiation (PPI)
[ 26] [ 27]
1978–1993
Leukemia
La Hague, Normandy , France
27
Unknown Speculated to be tritium
[ 28] [ 29]
1980s
Leukemia , brain tumors
East Yorkshire , England
13
Polonium-210 , lead , arsenic and other metal emitter; unproven link to Capper Pass tin smelter in Melton
[ 30] [ 31] [ 32] [ 33]
1990–2005
Leukemia
Elbmarsch , Lower Saxony and Krümmel (Kruemmel), Geesthacht , Schleswig-Holstein in Germany
16
Unknown Speculated to be actinide , especially plutonium-241 of unknown origin that was found in the area or tritium from a nearby nuclear power plant
[ 34] [ 35]
India
Date
Disease
Location
Number of cases
Cause
References
mid 1980s
Skin lesions , arsenicosis
West Bengal , India
Unknown
Arsenic
[ 36]
Notes
^ Out of 106 suspected health problems, 52 were confirmed, including 13 hematopoietic cancers and 39 birth defects.[ 7]
References
^ Grady, Denise (October 8, 1998). "A Glow in the Dark, and a Lesson in Scientific Peril" . The New York Times .
^ Thun, M. J.; Sinks, T. (2004). "Understanding Cancer Clusters" . CA . 54 (5): 273–80. doi :10.3322/canjclin.54.5.273 . PMID 15371285 . S2CID 39278757 .
^ Jones, LA; Hajek, RA (1995). "Effects of estrogenic chemicals on development" . Environmental Health Perspectives . 103 (Suppl 7): 63–7. doi :10.2307/3432510 . JSTOR 3432510 . PMC 1518876 . PMID 8593877 .
^ "Role of DES Cohort Studies" . US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2005. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ McDonald, J C; Harris, J; Armstrong, B (2004). "Mortality in a cohort of vermiculite miners exposed to fibrous amphibole in Libby, Montana" . Occupational and Environmental Medicine . 61 (4): 363–6. doi :10.1136/oem.2003.008649 . PMC 1740743 . PMID 15031396 .
^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1997). "Epidemiologic notes and reports. Angiosarcoma of the liver among polyvinyl chloride workers--Kentucky. 1974" . Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . 46 (5): 97–101. PMID 9045039 .
^ a b "Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: Health Study Activities Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)" . US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). September 16, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2012 .
^ "Survey of Childhood Cancers and Birth Defects at USMC Camp Lejeune" . US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). July 2003. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ "CIBA-GEIGY CORP" . US Environmental Protection Agency. December 14, 2004. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ "Childhood Cancer Incidence Health Consultation: A Review and Analysis of Cancer Registry Data, 1979-1995 for Dover Township (Ocean County), New Jersey" (PDF) . New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Hazardous Site Health Evaluation Program, Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health, & US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). September 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-10-27.
^ "Volume 1: Summary of the Final Technical Report" (PDF) . Case-control Study of Childhood Cancers in Dover Township (Ocean County), New Jersey . NJDHSS, ATSDR. December 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 29, 2004. Retrieved January 31, 2005 . See also: "Dover Township Childhood Cancer Investigation" . Archived from the original on June 18, 1997. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ "BEHA Reports - Woburn, Massachusetts" . Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Bureau of Environmental Health Assessment. 1997. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ Costas, Kevin; Knorr, Robert S; Condon, Suzanne K (2002). "A case–control study of childhood leukemia in Woburn, Massachusetts: The relationship between leukemia incidence and exposure to public drinking water". Science of the Total Environment . 300 (1–3): 23–35. Bibcode :2002ScTEn.300...23C . doi :10.1016/S0048-9697(02)00169-9 . PMID 12685468 .
^ Centers for Disease Control (1989). "Testicular cancer in leather workers--Fulton County, New York" . Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . 38 (7): 105–6, 111–4. PMID 2536886 .
^ "Bureau of Environmental Health Assessment" . Wilmington Childhood Cancer Study . Massachusetts Department of Public Health. 2002. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ "Evaluation of Cancer Incidence data for the Town of Wilmington, Massachusetts 1987-1995" (PDF) . Letter to the Wilmington Board of Health . Massachusetts Department of Public Health. August 2000. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ "Toxic chemicals and childhood cancer: A review of the evidence" (PDF) . Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 1, 2003. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ Malek, Mitra (September 13, 2010). "New data confirms Acreage cancer cluster; health officials puzzled on cause of children's ailments" . The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved November 15, 2015 .
^ "Cancer Clusters - Churchill County (Fallon), Nevada Exposure Assessment" . National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2004. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ Steinmaus, Craig; Lu, Meng; Todd, Randall L; Smith, Allan H (2004). "Probability estimates for the unique childhood leukemia cluster in Fallon, Nevada, and risks near other U.S. Military aviation facilities" . Environmental Health Perspectives . 112 (6): 766–71. doi :10.1289/ehp.6592 . PMC 1241974 . PMID 15121523 .
^ "Nevada" . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Archived from the original on February 8, 2005. Retrieved January 31, 2005 .
^ Mullen, Frank (February 27, 2005). "Scientists zero in on tungsten as Fallon cancer cause" . Reno Gazette-Journal .
^ Seewer, John (December 30, 2010). "Ohio child cancers confound parents, investigators" . Associated Press. Retrieved August 2, 2021 .
^ "Quebec town demands compensation for tainted water" . CBC News. June 10, 2009.
^ Asselin, Pierre (January 4, 2010). "Eau contaminée de Shannon: le nombre de maladies répertoriées augmente" [Shannon's contaminated water: the number of identified diseases increases]. Le Soleil (in French).
^ Gardner, Martin J. (1991). "Father's occupational exposure to radiation and the raised level of childhood leukemia near the Sellafield nuclear plant" . Environmental Health Perspectives . 94 : 5–7. doi :10.2307/3431285 . JSTOR 3431285 . PMC 1567974 . PMID 1954939 .
^ Dickinson, Heather O.; Parker, Louise (2002). "Leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in children of male Sellafield radiation workers" . International Journal of Cancer . 99 (3): 437–44. doi :10.1002/ijc.10385 . PMID 11992415 . S2CID 11111634 .
^ Pobel, D.; Viel, J.-F. (1997). "Case-control study of leukaemia among young people near La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant: The environmental hypothesis revisited" . BMJ . 314 (7074): 101–6. doi :10.1136/bmj.314.7074.101 . PMC 2125632 . PMID 9006467 .
^ Seth, Anita (1997). "Leukemia Clusters Near La Hague and Sellafield" (PDF) . Energy & Security (4). Institute for Energy and Environmental Research: 14.
^ M S Baxter; B W East; A B MacKenzie; E M Scott (1990). A Review of radioactivity in and around the Capper Pass smelter, Melton Works, North Humberside, a report prepared for the East Yorkshire Health Authority, February 1990 . Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre.
^ "Radioactivity" . Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 176. House of Commons. 19 July 1990. col. 1278–1284. We cannot, in any way, attribute excess cancers to the practices at, or discharges from, the plant. All we can say in summary is that there is far too little information on which to form a sound judgment
^ Sources:
^ Arthur, Keely (2024-02-09). "Cancer cluster" . In Arthur (ed.). WRAL confirms 99 cancer cases . WRAL News. {{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link )
^ Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Dieckmann, Helga; Dieckmann, Hayo; Schmitz-Feuerhake, Inge (1997). "A Cluster of Childhood Leukemia near a Nuclear Reactor in Northern Germany". Archives of Environmental Health . 52 (4): 275–80. doi :10.1080/00039899709602198 . PMID 9210727 .
^ Brüske-Hohlfeld, I; Scherb, H; Bauchinger, M; Schmid, E; Fender, H; Wolf, G; Obe, G; Schmitz-Feuerhake, I; et al. (2001). "A cluster of childhood leukaemias near two neighbouring nuclear installations in Northern Germany: Prevalence of chromosomal aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes". International Journal of Radiation Biology . 77 (1): 111–6. doi :10.1080/095530001453177 . PMID 11213343 . S2CID 25519650 .
^ Métral, Jerome; Charlet, Laurent; Bureau, Sara; Mallik, Sukumar; Chakraborty, Sudipta; Ahmed, Kazi M; Rahman, MW; Cheng, Zhongqi; Van Geen, Alexander (2008). "Comparison of dissolved and particulate arsenic distributions in shallow aquifers of Chakdaha, India, and Araihazar, Bangladesh" . Geochemical Transactions . 9 (1): 1. Bibcode :2008GeoTr...9....1M . doi :10.1186/1467-4866-9-1 . PMC 2246114 . PMID 18190703 .
External links