Cancer Cluster Investigation: Numbers from State Differ

We're digging deeper and taking a closer look at the number of cases in what some are calling a cancer cluster in the Dalton, Georgia area.

Georgia's Department of Human Services Division of Public Health has concluded there is no evidence of a cancer cluster. They say they found seven cases of Glioblastoma. Our number is much larger, and that's not the only discrepancy we've uncovered. We've found workers in the same department at the state have been releasing different numbers.

NewsChannel 9 first began our investigation three weeks ago when a group of people from the Dalton area came forward claiming they or a loved one had Glioblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer.

Denise Patterson says, "We wonder how many cases are out there that we don't even know about." Patterson and others argue they don't know because no one with the state has been keeping track. So we called Georgia's Department of Human Resources Division of Public Health to see if they could give us an exact number of cases. Here's their response from three weeks ago.

Lisa Moery, Department of Human Resources Office of Communications, "I spoke with the epidemiologist and she said they had been estimating about two cases a year and that they are detecting about two cases a year."

We asked for more information about the Dalton cases, but were told we'd have to wait a couple of weeks until the state released its full report.

We waited and were then given a statement from Lisa Moery with Georgia's Department of Human Resources Division of Public Health. It said, "Based on recent analysis, 21 cases of cancers of the brain and other central nervous system were diagnosed between 2000 and 2004; of these, 10 were Glioblastoma Multiforme, an average of 2 cases per year."

But last week, Dr. Susan Lance, Director of the State's Epidemiology Branch at the Department of Human Resources Division of Public Health, reported a different number of cases. Lance says the state found 7 cases, not 10.

"We have two in 2004 and we have four in 2003." Reporter asks, what about 2002? Dr. Lance replies, "I have one in 1998."

So why does it matter if the state is reporting different numbers? For one, they say they based their conclusion there was no cancer cluster in Dalton, in part, on those numbers. But if they don't have a complete count how can they make an accurate conclusion?

Denise Patterson says, "Sometimes in jobs people pass the buck, I mean, and so you wonder is anybody aware of what's really going on."

Dr. John Young, Director of the Georgia Center for Cancer Statistics, says Georgia gets about 1.3 million dollars from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help keep track of the numbers. He explains why it's important to do so. "It helps with research, it helps with allocation of resources. So you know, if you're planning for the number of radiation therapy units you're going to need, or the number of oncology nurses, or the amount drugs that may be consumed. The numbers of cases that are going to be occurring are very important pieces of information for that."

Georgia's Department of Human Resources Division of Public Health hasn't released its full report on the cancer cluster investigation. They say they expect to do so some time this month.

You can depend on us to bring you the details as soon as they become available.