Cancer Cluster Investigation Day 8

We are learning more information about what some are calling a cancer cluster in the Dalton, Georgia area. We've combined what we've been told by the tumor registrar at Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, Georgia and people who say they or their family members have been diagnosed with Glioblastoma. We've come up with a total of at least 21 cases of Glioblastoma reported in Whitfield County between 1999 and 2007. Studies show the rare brain cancer occurs in one in 50,000 people per year. Thursday, we took our information to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville to ask a leading neurosurgeon whether he thinks there's a cluster.

Dr. Reid Thompson, Director of Vanderbilt Brain Tumor Center says, "One of the first questions patients ask me when we're discussing their new diagnosis of a brain cancer is how can this happen to me, why me?"

But Dr. Thompson says it's a question he can't answer. That's why he and a team of doctors and epidemiologists are studying patients with Glioblastoma and other primary brain cancers. So far Dr. Thompson says he's uncovered a "hot spot" area for all brain cancers. Thompson, "That cluster is in the Southeast."

We then show Dr. Thompson a copy of this map [Note: To see map, go to "Video Stories" and click on "Cancer Cluster Investigation Day 8] that shows where nine people, who've told us they or a loved one has Glioblastoma, live. Three of them reside outside Dalton, Georgia, but say they either worked or attended school in the city. The remaining six live in the Dalton area.

Thompson says of the map, "I think it's striking. I think it's an important observation and one that merits further study because there is potentially clues there and I think that could be very valuable." Reporter asks if the number seems unusually high? "Well, yes and no. I think the answer is yes and no."

Dr. Thompson says the numbers in the Dalton area "fit" with the cluster he found in the Southeast, but understanding why the hot spot exists is puzzling.

"There may be an underlying genetic predisposition to develop cancer but if you have this genetic predisposition you may never develop the cancer unless you are exposed to something in the environment."

Dr. Thompson goes on to say it's not at all clear what that something is. But the group in the Dalton area who say they are affected by Glioblastoma say they are convinced there is something in the environment. So we took a closer look and searched Georgia's Environmental Protection Division's Hazardous Site Inventory List from 2006.

Here's what we found. This is the area where those in the group from the Dalton area live. According to the EPD, there are 10 hazardous sites located in that area. Three companies were in violation of leaking vinyl chloride into groundwater. Literature from Children's Hospital Boston suggests vinyl chloride could be associated with Glioblastoma. The EPD says no human exposure is suspected from the releases in Dalton.

Thompson, "From my perspective, I'm not sure that there's an obvious link. But these kinds of observations I think are really crucial, and actually I really applaud you for looking into it because it is important. And you can imagine that if you weren't interested in it and these people hadn't sort of made this connection, no one would have made this observation and this is sort of important."

Dr. Thompson says finding the answers isn't easy and it could take years but he says without studies, like the one at Vanderbilt, they may never know.

"I think one of the most important things you've discovered in the study is that people are interested in it, they're taking a stand, they want to get information, they're asking good questions, they're motivated."

Dr. Thompson says the information from the Dalton area could help his researchers start to understand what might be causing Glioblastoma. And while he says the task will be monumental, he wants those affected by the cancer to know his team is working relentlessly to figure it out.

"There is hope, people are very focused on it, and we will have answers."

Late Thursday afternoon we spoke to an epidemiologist who's part of Dr. Thompson's research team. She works at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. After her first impression at the cases of cancer connected to the Dalton area, she says she "doesn't think it's a good idea to dismiss it as chance." She tells us she will consider conducting a systematic investigation of the cases.

You can depend on us to continue to follow this story.