Cancer clusters
Community-and potentially environmentally caused-clusters are harder to unravel because of the difficulty in determining and measuring the myriad variables involved, such as age, potential exposure, and length of time living in an area.
Examples include asbestos and mesothelioma, vinyl chloride monomer and liver cancer. Occupational clusters are easier to spot because they are confined to one population with similar exposures to potential contaminants.
#CANCER CLUSTERS MOVIE#
The movie Erin Brockovich tackled the story of a cluster of childhood cancers in a small desert town in California.Ĭancer clusters come in two basic types: occupational and environmental, with variations on both themes. The Woburn story spawned a bestselling novel and a movie, A Civil Action. 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. 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.