Cancer concerns in Brantley county and surrounding areas

Ellen Walker and her grandson Gage live in Hoboken, not far from Waycross in nearby Brantley County.
 
Gage, 5, is one of several children in Southeast Georgia diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer, within a 60-day period.
 
“He’s lost a lot of weight,” said Walker. “…I think it has got to be something to do with the air and the water.”
 
Rhabdomyosarcoma is so uncommon, there are only 350 new cases a year in the United States. Yet there were three cases reported in the Waycross area over a two-month span.
 
“In this area, we’re talking about four maybe five cases in a 60-day period,” said Georgia State Rep. Jason Spencer. “There may be other cases.”
 
Spencer reviewed an investigation into Rhabdomyosarcoma cases in New Hampshire and found similarities.
 
“Look at the facts around the cases in the Ware County region,” he said. “It would most likely fit the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s) definition and you would most likely call this a cancer cluster.”
 
The physician assistant is now asking Georgia Public Health Department to take a second look at cases like Gage’s and declare the area a “cancer cluster.”
 
“It is the first step in determining a case for causation,” said Spencer. “How will they find a cause? That is another challenge.”
 
On March 15, the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry will launch its investigation into a possible source.
 
“The exposure pathway has to be established, that’s what they will do,” said Spencer.
 
Residents having to deal with the many trips for chemotherapy are convinced the cause is environmental. But so far identifying a source has been unsuccessful.
 
“I’d like to see the water tested, the air, the dirt,” said Walker.