2007.11.23 – Experts to discuss blood cancer

http://www.republicanherald.com/articles/2007/11/23/import/19051609.txt

Experts to discuss blood cancer

By Cindy D’Alio
Published: Friday, November 23, 2007 3:00 AM EST

We reported in today’s edition of The REPUBLICAN & Herald that polycythemia vera, the rare blood cancer that afflicts 38 people in Schuylkill, Luzerne and Carbon counties, will be the subject of a Dec. 10 meeting of blood disorder experts in Atlanta. The Division of Health Studies for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry confirmed the 38 cases, which is more than 50 percent higher than what might have been expected.

Local concerns are that elevated levels of the disease are due to environmental contamination, but the agency has yet to determine if that is the case. Hopefully, the Atlanta meeting will lead to answers.