While benign, treatment can leave victims with hearing loss, trouble balancing, and several other serious symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. Advocates for an official investigation into fears of a "cancer cluster" at the Middlesex County high school say there are parallels to the notorious water system contamination in the Ocean County town that was blamed for more than 130 cases of childhood cancer in the 1990s. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. "It needs to be investigated, no questions asked," said Elizabeth A. Platz, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 1999 when Lupiano was 27, he too was diagnosed with a large acoustic neuroma on the left side of his brain. Until then, he knew of 15 former Colonia attendees who had been diagnosed with brain tumors. But Lupiano has so far came across 102 people who passed through the school between 1975 and 2000 have all suffered from the same type of brain cancer. But as the study continues, a number of people in the community are looking for some kind of reassurance. In the United States, the rate of new cases of brain cancer or other nervous system cancer is 6.3 cases per 100,000 people per year, according to the National Institutes of Health. The results from the environmental study that was conducted at a New Jersey high school campus enveloped in a brain tumor cluster mystery among graduates and workers at the school revealed no traces of radioactivity were found in the school. That's when Lupiano started looking into the connection. "While we have not yet determined if any contaminant is present, the only link up to this point is that everyone spent a significant amount of time at the school," Lupiano wrote in his Facebook post. "I never in my worst nightmare envisioned ever hitting this milestone. Tripadvisor names the world's top 25 beaches, three in the U.S. "It was clearly alarming enough that it merited further attention and I just helped him get that attention. The mayor has reached out to the state Department of Health, Department of Environmental Protection and the Federal Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, according to CBS New York. NEW JERSEY - A New Jersey man has uncovered a medical mystery apparently linking more than 100. Like 6 Comments |. 55, for example, died from glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor, in 2016 after graduating in 1981. A man investigating his former high school in New Jersey says he has counted 115 people who attended or worked there have had a rare brain tumor. But brain . Thats 100 people with their life forever changed. "I talked to him a little bit and learned about what he had been working on," McCormactoldNew Jersey 101.5. The last case was a while ago, like 2000," Kapadia said. 2021 DEADLIEST YEAR IN US HISTORY DUE TO COVID-19, DRUG OVERDOSES. I pray we find answers(as of 18:00 4/11, the list stands at 102 individuals). According to the Mayo Clinic, an Acoustic Neuroma is a slow-growing tumor that is found on the primary nerve that . According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, glioblastoma has an incidence of3.21 per 100,000. Theres lots and lots of people calling me, saying, Look, I didnt go to the high school, but I live a mile away, and we call our block cancer alley,' said Lupiano. We do not believe that there is cause for any further testing, he said. "Her four children are potentially being exposed to the same thing that killed their mother. A majority of former students of Colonia High School developed glioblastoma, a rare brain tumour. That decades-long stretch ended in the early 2000s, but recent. Lupiano also spoke with CBS News on Thursday, saying he now believes ionizing radiation must be responsible for the health issues. More than 100 graduates of a New Jersey high school have been diagnosed with brain tumors over the past 30 years, prompting concern that there might be a connection between the school and the tumor cases. Lupiano said he has had meetings with county, state and federal agencies, which he said in a March 25 post "are going well.". Al Lupiano, an environmental scientist, began investigating Colonia High School in Woodbridge when he realized several people who attended the school had rare tumors just like he had. The cause of glioma, the tumor that occurs in the brain or spinal cord, is not known like most tumors, Mayo Clinic says. "Two hours later, we received information that my wife also had a primary brain tumor," Lupiano said. The vast majority of those who have developed brain tumors graduated between 1975 and 2000, although outliers have come as recently as a 2014 graduate, according to the Star-Ledger. The number of reported victims has been growing since Al Lupiano, a former student in the 1980s and a cancer victim himself, appealed for names in a Facebook post on March 7. If we dont find anything, we have to start looking at other potential candidates, whether its chemicals or something in the soil or air. "When I looked at the email and I saw the data I just dropped. Heres how it works. They will remain in place for 14 days before being sent to a lab for analysis. 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But Lupiano was not initially sure that the high school was a link to the similar yet rare brain tumor cases until he made a request on Facebook for others who attended Colonia to reach out to him personally. ", In an earlier update, Lupiano said many of those who reached out to him about their brain tumor or cancer cases "are former CHS teachers and staff members who didnt live in Colonia, they just worked in the school. While not technically cancer, these brain tumors can grow and become life-threatening if left untreated. According to United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA), radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. The school was built back in 1967 on acres of empty land, with McCormac telling the news network he is stumped as to what could be causing the cancers. In August 2021, DeCillis received her diagnosis of Grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive, rare, and deadly form of brain cancer. As a Rutgers University graduate with a major in environmental sciences and a minor inindustrial hygiene safety engineering, he's made a career of cleaning up unsafe sites. While the family had hoped to move forward following the operation, tests . Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Meanwhile, the TikTok video sparked panic and a range of conspiracy-theory style comments, with people claiming mold, toxic waste, asbestos and nearby cellphone towers could all be causing the cluster. In April, Woodbridge approved environmental testing at the school, but those results won't be made available until the end of June. The Township of Woodbridge, in cooperation with the Woodbridge Township School District, has taken the proactive initiative to contract with T&M and Cabrera Services, Inc., a nationally recognized radiological and environmental remediation company, to engage their team of environmentalists to begin collecting data at Colonia High School, the town said in a statement. More than 100 former Colonia High School students and staff have been diagnosed with brain cancer over a 30-year period. Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world. He thinks the cases stem from contaminated soil, but there's no data to prove that at this point. Twentyyears earlier, he was also diagnosed with an aggressive 36-millimeter acoustic neuroma. His wife, Michelle, who also attended Colonia high, got a benign diagnosis as well, though the two came 20 years apart. "I have some lingering issues. More: 'It can't be a coincidence': Colonia High School community probes mysterious cancer cases. Robert Miller The investigation was jumpstarted after it was discovered more 122 people once connected to. Legal Statement. The department declined to comment for this story. Were all concerned, and we all want to get to the bottom of this. "This is terrific news for the current students of Colonia High School and their parents who worried about their safety, along with current staff members. "This is only the tip of the iceberg. Even though the cluster cases ended almost two decades ago, Lupiano appears as determined as ever to uncover the cause -- and he understands that parents who send their kids to school there now may have some concerns despite what officials tell them. Al Lupiano was diagnosed with a "very rare" and abnormally large brain tumor in 1999 when he was 27 called Acoustic Neuroma. Landolfi and others said theres not enough evidence to support fears that the illnesses were caused by exposure to high levels of radiation, with one theory that the cause may have been a rock containing uranium used in a science lab. Patients would be injected with a small bead the size of a pinhead - and this bead would act as a "factory," secreting a protein that gets the body's white blood cells to destroy the tumor and fight cancer. Know What It Is, Nagaland Minister Pokes Fun At G20 Flower Pots Theft Accused, This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. "Colonia is not a mega high school. The number of people is so small that we don't know how many cancers you'd expect , she said. Among the others diagnosed with brain cancer was Lupianos younger sister, who passed away from the disease in February at the age of 44. However, Lupiano is still worried about his teenage nieces attending the school. After his sisters death in February, Lupiano became convinced of a link between the Colonia campus and the brain cancers that he, his wife and his sister had developed. McCormac has also reached out toU.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J 6th District. 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