Experts share information on cancer cluster in Tamaqua area

http://republicanherald.com/news/experts-share-information-on-cancer-cluster-in-tamaqua-area-1.1162746
By MIA LIGHT (Staff Writermlight@standardspeaker.com)
Published: June 16, 2011

TAMAQUA – Research continues into the high incidence of a rare cancer called polycythemia vera in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties near Tamaqua and McAdoo.

A panel of public health officials met Wednesday at the Tamaqua Community Center to provide a public update on the ongoing research.

Tamaqua-area resident Joseph Murphy, chairman of the Community Action Committee, which was established to keep residents of the tri-county area connected to the government agencies conducting the research, said the meeting was called by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR, to review findings and chart future research.

Robert Lewis of the state Department of Environmental Protection said DEP has been collecting samples of drinking water, soil and air at homes in the Hazleton-McAdoo-Tamaqua area as well as nearby co-generation facilities and mine pools. Among the findings were high radon levels in 20 out of 40 homes tested; high levels of lead in two wells and high nitrates in two wells. Residents of the sampled homes were notified of the findings and the results were also provided to ATSDR, which will use the data in its effort to find the reason for high rates of polycythemia vera in the area.

Researchers are working to combine the environmental information with data resulting from a JAK2 genetic marker blood test conducted in the community last year. The JAK2 marker is found in most people who have been diagnosed with or are at risk for developing polycythemia vera.

Researchers are also working to double-check blood test findings, confirm each diagnosis and ensure the state cancer registry is updated with accurate data.

“All the research projects that were started in 2009 and 2010 are now under way,” Murphy said. “Finally, the researchers are out in the community interacting with the citizens.”

Polycythemia vera is an excess of red blood cells that can lead to heart attacks, strokes, headaches and other symptoms and is treated by withdrawing blood periodically.

In 2005, the state Department of Health found a higher incidence of polycythemia vera in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties than in the rest of the state. Next, state officials asked the federal agency to help investigate whether the people actually had polycythemia vera and to look for other cases in those counties and in Carbon County.

In August 2008, the federal agency made a public report saying 33 cases of polycythemia vera had been confirmed by detecting a gene mutation in the patients.

According to environmental consultant Henry S. Cole, who serves as coordinator and adviser to the Community Action Committee, communication between residents and the agencies is the most important issue at this point in the research.

“We’ve got interdisciplinary groups of scientists working on this, so it is very important to have communication between all agencies,” Cole said. “We have to have that back-and-fourth so that every piece of information, every finding is accurate and current and included in the final reports.”

That crucial role of communication played by the Community Action Committee could be in jeopardy, however, if a continuing funding source is not found.

The Community Action Committee was formed and funded with a portion of a $5.5 million research grant secured through then-U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. The local committee received $99,000 with which to operate for two years. Its responsibilities include organizing a panel of scientific experts to gather data and advise citizens, hold monthly meetings to update the community, and produce and distribute information on polycythemia vera to citizens and local medical officials.

The action committee’s two-year funding allocation ends in September. But, Murphy said, the need to stay organized and keep the public informed on the ongoing research, the findings and new information on the cause of the local cancer risk remains high.

Murphy said he applied to the ATSDR for a $50,000 grant to fund the Community Action Committee for two more years, but the request was denied.

In the absence of federal funding, Murphy said his next step is to create a nonprofit organization to support the local arm of the polycythemia vera investigation.

“We have got to keep the community aspect of this alive,” Murphy said.

Updates on the ongoing investigations are available online at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/polycythemia_vera.

Public health officials taking part in Wednesday’s meeting included Lora Werner and Stephen Derwent of the ATSDR; David Marchetto and James Logue, epidemiological research associates with the state Department of Health; Carol Ann Gross-Davis, research leader with Drexell University; and Jeanine Buchanich of the University of Pittsburgh.

Geisinger Health System and the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine are also participating in the research.