A Multidisciplinary Investigation of a Polycythemia Vera Cancer Cluster of Unknown Origin

Vincent Seaman, Steve M. Dearwent, Debra Gable, Brian Lewis, Susan Metcalf, Ken Orloff, Bruce Tierney, Jane Zhu, James Logue, David Marchetto, Stephen Ostroff, Ronald Hoffman, Mingjiang Xu, David Carey, Porat Erlich, Glenn Gerhard, Paul Roda, Joseph Iannuzzo, Robert Lewis, John Mellow, Linda Mulvihill, Zachary Myles, Manxia Wu, Arthur Frank, Carol Ann Gross-Davis, Judith Klotz, Adam Lynch, Joel Weissfeld, Rona Weinberg and Henry Cole
Additional contact information
Vincent Seaman: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA
Steve M. Dearwent: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA
Debra Gable: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA
Brian Lewis: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA
Susan Metcalf: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA
Ken Orloff: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA
Bruce Tierney: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA
Jane Zhu: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA
James Logue: Pennsylvania Department of Health, 7th & Forster Streets, Harrisburg, PA 17120, USA
David Marchetto: Pennsylvania Department of Health, 7th & Forster Streets, Harrisburg, PA 17120, USA
Stephen Ostroff: Pennsylvania Department of Health, 7th & Forster Streets, Harrisburg, PA 17120, USA
Ronald Hoffman: Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA
Mingjiang Xu: Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA
David Carey: Geisinger Health System/Clinic, 100 N. Academy Ave, Danville, PA 17822, USA
Porat Erlich: Geisinger Health System/Clinic, 100 N. Academy Ave, Danville, PA 17822, USA
Glenn Gerhard: Geisinger Health System/Clinic, 100 N. Academy Ave, Danville, PA 17822, USA
Paul Roda: Geisinger Health System/Clinic, 100 N. Academy Ave, Danville, PA 17822, USA
Joseph Iannuzzo: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711, USA
Robert Lewis: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711, USA
John Mellow: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711, USA
Linda Mulvihill: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Program of Cancer Registries, 1600 Clifton, Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Zachary Myles: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Program of Cancer Registries, 1600 Clifton, Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Manxia Wu: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Program of Cancer Registries, 1600 Clifton, Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Arthur Frank: Drexel University School of Public Health, 1505 Race Street, Bellet Building 13th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, USA
Carol Ann Gross-Davis: Drexel University School of Public Health, 1505 Race Street, Bellet Building 13th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, USA
Judith Klotz: Drexel University School of Public Health, 1505 Race Street, Bellet Building 13th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, USA
Adam Lynch: Drexel University School of Public Health, 1505 Race Street, Bellet Building 13th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, USA
Joel Weissfeld: UPMC Cancer Pavilion, 3rd Floor, 5150 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA
Rona Weinberg: New York Blood Center, 310 East 67th Street, 2-47B, New York, NY 10065, USA
Henry Cole: Henry S. Cole & Associates, 7611 S. Osborne Rd, Ste 201, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772, USA

IJERPH, 2010, vol. 7, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Cancer cluster investigations rarely receive significant public health resource allocations due to numerous inherent challenges and the limited success of past efforts. In 2008, a cluster of polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer with unknown etiology, was identified in northeast Pennsylvania. A multidisciplinary group of federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and local healthcare providers subsequently developed a multifaceted research portfolio designed to better understand the cause of the cluster. This research agenda represents a unique and important opportunity to demonstrate that cancer cluster investigations can produce desirable public health and scientific outcomes when necessary resources are available.

Keywords: polycythemia vera; cancer cluster; environmental exposure; Pennsylvania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/7/3/1139/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/7/3/1139/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:7:y:2010:i:3:p:1139-1152:d:7501

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().