Sharing Fears of a Cancer Cluster

By Nina Siegal Copyright 1999 New York Times January 10, 1999

When Gwendolyn G. Madden got a diagnosis of colon cancer in 1997, she began to take unofficial note of the other people who lived in her building, 409 Edgecombe Avenue, and in a five-block area of her neighborhood, Sugar Hill, who had cancer. From 145th Street north, she said, she has counted 15 people in the throes of the disease, and 4 or 5 more who have recently died.

"It seems as though most of the people who have passed away in this area, it has been the big C that took them away," she said.

Ms. Madden, a member of the 150-155 Edgecombe Avenue Block Association, which has also been informally tracking cancer rates, says she has seen a high incidence of breast cancer, colon cancer and spinal cancer. She thinks the numbers are increasing. "I felt the same as most people I talked to felt," she said. "Gee, it's really unfortunate, but what can we do?"

But Maritta Dunn, chairwoman of Community Board 9 in Harlem, thought perhaps her board could do something. She suggested at a meeting that a study be conducted to determine if there is a higher cancer rate between 110th and 155th Streets, from Broadway to St. Nicholas Avenue.

"Let's first get everyone on the same page," she said. "Are we understanding that there may be a cluster problem here?"

St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center is considering conducting a study on cancer rates in that area, and is working with Board 9 on a plan, said Shelley B. Mayer, the hospital's vice president for government and community affairs.

But cancer clusters, or higher-than-expected concentrations of similar cancers in defined areas, are notoriously difficult to pin down.

Susan Klitzman, an epidemiologist and assistant commissioner for environmental risk assessment and communication for the New York City Health Department, said her agency receives requests for investigations of suspected cancer clusters from many sectors of the city.

"It is very difficult to document a cluster of cancers in a community setting, because in reality cancer is pretty common," she said. "Many people develop one type of cancer or another, and different types of cancers are thought to have different root causes or risk factors."

Meanwhile, people continue to worry. Lillie Robinson, 54, who lives at 41 St. Nicholas Terrace and has lived in Harlem since 1967, is concerned that one contributing factor may be the five-year-old sewage treatment plant at 145th Street on the Hudson River.

"It wasn't happening before," said Ms. Robinson, who has cancer. "I didn't hear about a lot of cancer when I moved here. It seems there's a major uprising. Is it in the water? Is it in the food we're eating?"

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