"Our work is not done" – Health officials discuss cancer study with Scott County residents

GATE CITY – More than 100 Scott County residents and local government officials gathered Thursday to hear the Virginia Department of Health explain a recent study of child cancer in the county.LENOWISCO Health District Director Reisa Sloce joined a panel of six VDH experts and program managers at the town hall meeting at Gate City Middle School to review the study and answer residents' questions.The study, released Wednesday, follows several months of public surveys, reviews of Virginia Cancer Registry case data from 2014 to 2023 and collaboration with area physicians and Tennessee health officials to look at child cancer incidences across Scott County and the LENOWISCO Health District during that 10-year period.County residents and support group Scott County Strong pressed state officials for the study after 15 child cancer cases had been reported in the county in the past two years.The study found no indications of a cancer cluster in Scott County for the 10-year study period, and Dane De Silva, director of VDH's Division of Population Health Data, told the audience that the study was limited to the date ending in 2023 because that was the last year for which complete case information was available.Half of the 24 survey responses came from Scott County, according to VDH, and five survey responses met the definition of confirmed cancer cases. Three other cases were identified from existing state cancer registry data, resulting in a total of eight confirmed cases in the 2014-23 study period.Data for 2024 cancer cases is not expected to be at least 90% complete until early spring this year, De Silva said, and 2025 data is expected to be complete in early 2026. He said the study had not ended, however, as VDH staff will continue data analysis as 2024 and 2025 data are completer.Most states have at least a two-year lag in updating their respective cancer registry information because pf the need to confirm case diagnoses and specific cancer types, De Silva and Sloce said at various times during the meeting.After statistical and medical experts evaluated the cases for types of cancer, demographic data for patients, geographic locations and available environmental and exposure information, De Silva said the cases did not exceed statewide or district-wide cancer rates."Our registry remains committed to evaluating the data," De Silva said of the upcoming 2024-25 data updates.De silva said the date did raise one observation – 75% percent of the diagnosed cases in the study were in males age 5 or younger. The number of cases was small enough among the population, however, that even a one-case increase in a year could give a misleading indication of rising cancer rates compared to statewide data.Rebecca Tomazin of VDH's Environmental Health Tracking Program said the study looked at air, water and industrial site factors but did not establish links with types of cancer or exposure factors.Several residents asked about water and air quality testing, the possibility of radon exposure in county schools and homes, Tomazin and other panel members recommended the public take advantage of free radon testing kits through VDH's Scott County office."What can we do to get things rolling," Megan Smith, coordinator of Scott County Strong, asked the panel. "We don't have two to three years to wait."De Silva recommended that health care providers work with the community to get cancer data submitted to the state cancer registry in a timely manner.Dr. Noelle Bissell, medical consultant to the LENOWISCO Health District, said VDH and the cancer registry can start reviewing date as soon as it is submitted to the registry to speed completion.Bissell and De Silva said that, while a study may determine a cluster, finding the causes of cancers in those situations is more difficult because some types of cancer may be caused by multiple factors."Again, our work is not done," Sloce said at the end of the meeting. "This investigation is not over."