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Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access published online on April 29, 2008
JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute, doi:10.1093/jnci/djn144
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© Oxford University Press 2008.

NEWS

Busting Cancer Clusters: Realities Often Differ From Perceptions

Steven Benowitz

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Cancer clusters often have all the necessary ingredients for great detective stories and human drama, and that fact has not been lost on either Hollywood or the news media.

Woburn, Mass., Hinkley, Calif., and Toms River, N.J., are all examples of small towns thrust into the public spotlight because of a reported cluster of cancer cases (and potentially related environmental conditions) that drew both local and national headlines. The Woburn story spawned a bestselling novel and a movie, A Civil Action. The movie Erin Brockovich tackled the story of a cluster of childhood cancers in a small desert town in California.

Cancer clusters come in two basic types: occupational and environmental, with variations on both themes. Occupational clusters are easier to spot because they are confined to one population with similar exposures to potential contaminants. Examples include asbestos and mesothelioma, vinyl chloride monomer and liver cancer. Community—and potentially . . . [Full Text of this Article]

When To Investigate

Cluster Studies Evolve


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