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Last updated on Monday, October 26, 2015
(INDIANAPOLIS) - State health officials have asked their federal counterparts for help investigating a possible cancer cluster in eastern Indiana’s Henry County.
The State Department of Health says Indiana's cancer registry shows 26 people were diagnosed with a brain cancer type called glioblastoma in Henry County between 1999 and 2013.
The state agency began investigating in July after the registry and resident interviews showed another six diagnosed cases of that cancer during the past 23 months within a one-mile radius of that county.
Cancer clusters occur when the number of cases in an area is higher than expected or can be definitively linked to a specific cause.
Henry County's cases don't meet that threshold, but Indiana wants experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the possible cancer cluster.
To be considered a cancer cluster by the CDC, a group of illnesses must represent a greater-than-expected number of the same types of cancer, or those scientifically proven to have the same cause, when compared with a similar setting or population in a specific geographic area over a certain period of time.
Since June 2011, the state health department has completed 28 investigations into suspected cancer clusters. No cancer cluster has ever been confirmed in Indiana.
The ISDH will continue to work with residents and officials in Henry County as part of its investigation.
"We are supportive and appreciative of the Indiana State Department of Health's investigation and efforts toward addressing concerns regarding cancer in Henry County," New Castle Mayor Greg York said.
Anyone who has more information regarding cases of glioblastoma in Henry County and has not already reported it is encouraged to contact the state health department's cancer epidemiologist, Amanda Raftery, at (317) 234-2796 or via email at araftery@isdh.in.gov.
To learn more about glioblastoma and other brain cancers, visit the American Brain Tumor Association.
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