SSFL Cancer Clusters

Breast Cancer

Overview:

• Breast cancer mainly occurs in middle-aged and older women. The median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis is sixty-two…a very small number of women diagnosed with breast cancer are younger than forty-five.” Cancer.org

• The “West Los Angeles/East Ventura County” area has been identified by the Breast Cancer Mapping Project to be 10-20% higher than the the statewide rate for invasive breast cancer.

• “We found that the incidence [cancer] rate was more than 60% greater among residents living within 2 miles of SSFL than among residents living more than 5 miles from SSFL for the following types of cancer: thyroid, upper aerodigestive tract (oral and nasal cavities, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus), bladder, and blood and lymph tissue (leukemias, lymphomas, and multiple myelemas).” Dr. Hal Morgenstern (Note: though breast cancer was not a cancer studied by Dr. Morgenstern, the higher incidence rate correlates with the breast cancer mapping project’s findings).

Read more:

• California Breast Cancer Mapping Project

• Gender and Radiation Impact Project

See related:

• Citizen’s Mapping Project

• Children’s Cancer Cluster