Moorpark residents wonder whether they have cancer cluster

By Michele Willer-Allred
Jan. 05, 2014 — Ventura County Star
While state public health officials say the number of malignant
brain tumors they have counted in Moorpark is small, several
parents and residents wonder whether a cancer cluster exists
in the city.
About two years ago, Moorpark resident Julie Miller heard
from doctors that her son, Austin Munoz, had two malignant
brain tumors.
Munoz, then 1??cases of brain and other nervous system
cancer in the U.S. was on average 6.5 cases per 100,000
between 2006 and 2010.
According to institute, brain and other nervous system cancer
is relatively rare, and nationally, cases have been falling on
average nationally 0.2 percent each year in the past 10 years.
Though cancer rates have declined in California, brain cancer
is, after leukemias, the most common cancer in children,
according to the cancer registry.
After her son’s diagnosis, Miller learned about Breanna
Pflaumer, who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor
eight years ago at age 14. She also learned about Patrick
Leydon III, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 19
and died five years later in 2009.
Miller said she knows at least 11 children living near or along
Tierra Rejada Road in Moorpark who have developed brain
tumors in the past 10 years.
The Facebook page “Brain Tumors & Other Cancers in
Moorpark” was started for residents to share their stories.
According to data from the California Department of Public
Health on childhood brain cancers in Moorpark, there appears
to be no cluster.
“Since 2001, there have been fewer than five malignant brain
tumors in people under 20 years of age reported in Moorpark,”
said Matt Conens in an email from the agency’s public affairs
office.
“CDPH cannot provide the exact number as it might make it
easier for patients to be identified, since Moorpark is a small
community and the incidences are few,” Conens added.
Nevertheless, Miller continues to pursue the issue. She said
she continues to learn about children and adults, who have
brain tumors or neurological symptoms.
“I don’t believe it is a coincidence, and that is what’s driving
me crazy. That’s why I wanted to do something,” she said.
Miller said that after failed attempts to contact state officials
about her concerns, she ended up getting in contact with
environmental advocate Erin Brockovich, whose life was the
basis for an Academy Award-winning film.
Brockovich has been collecting data from people living in
communities across the country who have cancer or have
concerns about cancer and other environmental issues.
Brockovich said a map on http://www.brockovich.com, the
People’s Reporting Registry, helps begin identifying what
could be overlooked clusters across the United States and
finding solutions to the problem.
“This is not a scientific sampling but simply a map of people
who are reaching out to me for help because they are
concerned that environmental pollution in their community has
made them sick,” Brockovich said.
Brockovich testified in favor of SB 50, the Strengthening
Protections for Children and Communities From Disease
Clusters Act, which would likely include a national database in
which people may report diseases.
Miller said she has been in contact with Brockovich since July
2012.
“I want to bring awareness to the issue and hopefully have
scientists evaluate Moorpark and a possible cancer cluster
here,” Miller said.
State law requires hospitals and health care providers to
report every cancer diagnosis made to the cancer registry,
although on its own website, the registry provides only city and
county statistics.
“The CCR does not produce cancer rates for cities because
population data for cities are not available in the age group,
gender, and race/ethnicity categories required,” the website
says.
Conens said a true cancer cluster exists when more cancer
cases appear in a group of people, location or time period
than would be expected based on usual cases.
The health services department verified the presence of a
cluster of leukemia and lymphoma cases among children in
Montecito from 1981 through 1988 but found no evidence of
environmental exposure that would increase cancer risk in the
area near Santa Barbara.
A 1991 study by the department confirmed a cluster of bladder
cancers near the Santa Susana Field Laboratory near Simi
Valley.
In 2009, Oak Park residents had concerns about the spike in
the number of different types of cancer diagnosed, but no
cluster was found there.
Some of the challenges scientists encounter when
investigating possible cancer clusters are changes of
residence, whether the cancer metastasized from another
area of the body and whether the cancer could have occurred
by chance rather than the environment.
Conens said the process for investigating cancer concerns
and possible clusters is at
http://www.ccrcal.org/Inside_CCR/FAQ.shtml#cancer.
Moorpark officials said they have been contacted by a few
concerned residents about media reports on the possible
cancer cluster.
However, city officials said in a joint statement on the city’s
website that they have no information about any cancer
cluster in Moorpark and that only the state public health
agency could make such a designation.
“Certainly the city is sensitive to concerns being raised and will
continue to stay in contact with the Cancer Registry and other
responsible agencies while they examine and verify statistics
and trends,” the statement says.
Moorpark Mayor Janice Parvin, who helped write the
statement, said city officials are making sure they are doing as
much as they can.
“Were very sensitive to all our residents, and we support the
citizens that are battling this horrible disease,” Parvin said.
Moorpark resident Riley Carsi said he also has concerns
about a possible cancer cluster, especially since he has
children growing up in the city.
“We are scared. We actually shiver in our shoes knowing that
this in our community, with our children here, and we really
don’t know what to do with the information that we’re hearing,”
Carsi said.
Moorpark resident Joann Williams, 35, was recently
diagnosed with breast cancer and said stories about a
possible cancer cluster trouble her.
“We’re hearing so many people with cancer, not just here but
everywhere. Is it a coincidence, or is something going on? We
would like to know, and if something is causing it we want
something done about it,” Williams said.
She said Moorpark residents often talk about causes of cancer
in the area, including farm fields with pesticides, toxic drift
from the Santa Susana Field Laboratory above Simi Valley
and a Southern California Edison electrical substation near
Tierra Rejada Road.
Breanna’s father, Tom Pflaumer, a Moorpark park
commissioner, said he was eager about finding answers but
cautions against pointing a finger at Moorpark too soon.
“If anything, I’m really hoping with any information we find and
any action we take that it moves us closer to finding a cure for
cancer,” Tom Pflaumer said.