Ms. Grace said she initially documented eight pediatric Ewing cases and the health department now has expanded that total to 12, when cases involving young adults were included.
Confirming a cluster requires meeting a high statistical and analytical bar, including identifying a pollution or chemical exposure linked to that cancer, according to a Pitt biostatistician.
That presents a problem because Ewing sarcoma has no known cause.
What could be the cause?
The Westmoreland project presented the state with a long list of possible pollution sources, including countywide shale gas drilling and fracking operations and a Penn Township
landfill that has accepted thousands of tons of radioactive drill cuttings from gas well sites.
The project’s report also makes a case for how pollution exposure could lead to Ewing.
But Ms. Grace said she and the team don’t yet know if fracking, water or air pollution, or pollution from old industry, among other sources of pollution and contamination, are responsible. “We don’t want our aim to stray from seeking a scientific cause and solution,” she said.
The health department said it is reviewing cancer statistics for Washington County and for the Canon-McMillan School District, where it is only aware of four cases but has yet to incorporate 2018 cancer data into its review.
In the past decade, two additional Ewing sarcoma cases have occurred in Washington County — one in Charleroi and another in or near Bentleyville — with at least two cases
each in Greene and Fayette counties.
The health department also said it has been working with researchers to separately evaluate and monitor Westmoreland County statistics.
Even with 12 Ewing cases, the department
does not see a statistically significant excessive number in Westmoreland County, Mr. Wardle said, adding that that finding has been shared with concerned residents of the county. “But
we will continue to monitor the number of cases in the area.”
He said the department is doing the statistical evaluation of the Ewing cases in Washington County and now has included all childhood cancers in the study, including those identified by the Post-Gazette.
The Ewing family of sarcoma is not one of the common cancers the department reports on annually, he said. Most cases occur in teens when they experience growth spurts, and science is limited as to what causes it.
The concerned citizens who recently called the health department wanted to know if the cancer cases are related to environmental factors, including radiation, Mr. Wardle said. Washington County has historic radiation issues related to a uranium mill tailings disposal site in North Strabane, near Canonsburg, where the U.S. Department of Energy continues to report background or below background levels of radiation.
Another concern is the widespread drilling and fracking of more than 1,000 shale gas wells, which produce waste water with radioactive components, among other pollutants. The township now sits downwind from a phalanx of compressor stations and a hilltop cryogenics plant, a major source of pollution.
Academic studies done in Pennsylvania and Colorado have found higher rates of childhood cancers in areas where fracking is occurring but with no links to Ewing sarcoma.
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, the trade organization representing the shale gas industry in Pennsylvania, issued a statement citing a review of medical data by the American Cancer Society that found “no known lifestyle-related or environmental causes of Ewing tumors ....”
In a statement, David Spigelmyer, coalition president, said attempts to link the incidence of Ewing sarcoma and other childhood cancers to the shale gas drilling industry were without scientific or medical support.
David Templeton: [email protected] or 412-263-1578. Twitter @templetoons. Don Hopey: [email protected] or 412-263-1983. Twitter @donhopey.
Ewing’s sarcoma survivor
now a pediatric nurse
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Published on Oct 30, 2015
Shelby Robin was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma at age 12. Shelby was an athletic and active child, who continued to participate in sports and cheerleading, even after the cancer necessitated the amputation of her left foot.
Now a clinical nurse in the Children's Cancer Hospital at MD Anderson, Shelby was the the recipient of the 2015 Brown Foundation Award for Excellence in Oncology Nursing.
Formerly known as the Ethel Fleming Arceneaux Outstanding Nurse-Oncologist Award, the recognition is the institution’s highest nursing honor among the nearly 3,000 nurses at MD Anderson. The Brown Foundation, Inc. established the award in 1982.
Formerly known as the Ethel Fleming Arceneaux Outstanding Nurse-Oncologist Award, the recognition is the institution’s highest nursing honor among the nearly 3,000 nurses at MD Anderson. The Brown Foundation, Inc. established the award in 1982.
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