We've received your submission. Woodbridge Mayor John McCormack told the outlet that his office initiated conversations with the Woodbridge Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Agency for Toxic Substance Disease Registry about opening investigations into potential radiation exposure stemming from the high school's campus. So far, more than 2,000 people have signed a Change.org petition demanding, in part, students return to remote learning. His sister Angela Decillis. First published on May 4, 2022 / 10:52 PM. A mystery in Colonia 94 people from 1 N.J. high school developed brain tumors. One former student at Colonia High School who developed a 'rare' brain tumor over 20 years ago and survived having cancer is looking to uncover the cause. Lupiano and McCormac have spoken to officials with the state Department of Health and thefederalAgency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world. Lupiano was diagnosed with a rare and abnormally large brain tumour Acoustic Neuroma (AN) in 1999 when he was just 27 years old. DeCillis's four teenage daughters attend Colonia schools in Woodbridge. An MRI revealed Michele had a 30-millimeter acoustic neuroma, another raretype of brain tumor that develops on the nerves leading to the inner ear. Al Lupiano is a Colonia High School graduate and environmental scientist who was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. But in 2021, his wife and sister, also. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Patients would be injected with a small bead the size of a pinhead - and this bead would act as a "factory," secreting a protein that gets the body's white blood cells to destroy the tumor and fight cancer. The township has filed an Open Public Records Act request with the state Department of Education to get files from 55 years ago when the school was built, the mayor said. New York, A 2012 study in the journal Critical Reviews in Toxicology demonstrates how tricky it can be to confirm a cancer cluster. Since . The vast majority dont have a cause that explains the cluster, said Laumbach, who is leading a federal study into the health effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), so-called forever chemicals, among 1,300 residents of Paulsboro in Gloucester County. Why? Laumbach argued that thousands of suspected cancer clusters throughout the country dont meet federal government standards for that designation even if they are investigated by public health experts. Lupiano said his teamdealt withanti-terrorism work, radioactive materials, and chemical and biological agents. 'It can't be a coincidence': Colonia High School community probes mysterious cancer cases, Piscataway man convicted of exploiting daughters college peers after moving into dorm, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. It may be that once someone is diagnosed with cancer, they are more likely to take note of other cancer diagnoses or more likely to have conversations about cancer and realize their connections to other cancer patients, Platz said. In a joint statement to CBS News, the New Jersey Department of Health and the state's Department of Environmental Protection said the agencies "are aware of the concerns raised by local residents, particularly as they relate to Colonia High School, and are partnering with Mayor McCormac and Woodbridge Township to better understand the issue and determine whether any relevant environmental exposure concerns are present at the site.". #braincancer #glioblastoma #braintumor #radiation #medicalmystery #doctor. Working that out takes time, Platz said. Find your municipality in this alphabetical list to see how its average property tax bill for 2021 compares to others. (Gosselin Funeral Home) In August 2021, DeCillis received her diagnosis of Grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive, rare, and deadly form of brain cancer. for 7-year-old's rare brain cancer. Most radon exposure occurs inside homes, schools and workplaces. Lupiano told NJ Spotlight News that the school is located less than 12 miles from the Middlesex Sampling Plant a site that was used, under the direction of theManhattan Project, to crush, dry, store, package and ship uranium ore for the development of the atomic bomb. However, Lupiano is still worried about his teenage nieces attending the school. also a graduate of the high school, died recently from brain cancer. You can reach him at richard.rickman@townsquaremedia.com. Colonia High School in New Jersey has seen more than 100 students and staff diagnosed with cancer over the last 30 years. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, glioblastoma has an incidence of3.21 per 100,000. He had developed 'rare' brain tumor some 20 years ago. We have no records 55 years ago.". WOODBRIDGE - The township has approved an emergency contract of $221,350 for an engineering firm to conduct radiological assessments at Colonia High School, following a 1989 graduate's. Whittington a board-certified MD in California claimed several of the brain tumors developed by ex-Colonia High staff and students are glioblastoma multiforme an aggressive cancer which spreads to brain tissue. Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Both his wife and sister were assigned the same doctor for treatment. Ninety-four former staff members and students from Colonia High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey, have developed an "extremely" rare form of malignant brain tumor, leading local officials to approve an emergency probe of the school Tuesday. "I dont know that we know enough yet to be definitive in terms of causation, et cetera.". Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Reports claim that more than 60 former students and staff of Colonia High School have been diagnosed with a rare brain tumor called . Al Lupiano, his wife Michele, and his sister Angela DeCillis all graduated from CHS between 1989 and 1995. For people who graduated recently, the chances of having cancer now is much lower than those in their 70s and 80s, he said. He's now among the many calling on the town, state and federal government to do more. 2021 DEADLIEST YEAR IN US HISTORY DUE TO COVID-19, DRUG OVERDOSES. For a better-informed future. Any finding that an outbreak of cancer in a specific location warrants the label cluster would rely on the elimination of possible causes that include the age of patients, the type of cancer, and how the number of cases compares with the incidence of the disease in the general population, they said. Radiation tests are being carried out at a New Jersey high school where over 100 former students and staff are reported to have developed brain tumors and cancerand the . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. In the 1980's, the contaminated residential properties were cleaned up, and the excavated soil was stored at the site in a specially constructed pile, known as the Vicinity Properties (VP) pile," the USACE New York Division's website states. NEW JERSEY - A New Jersey man has uncovered a medical mystery apparently linking more than 100. The same day his sister was diagnosed, his wife, Michele, a 1991 Colonia High School graduate, was diagnosed with a large acoustic neuroma, a rare brain tumor which is life-threatening if left untreated. Brain cancer is rare, being detected in about one in 15,000 . In the United States, the rate of new cases of brain cancer or other nervous system cancer is 6.3 cases per 100,000 people per year, according to the National Institutes of Health. Since last August, Lupiano has spent countless hours trying to find other people linked to CHS with primary brain cancers. We are looking at possible things that we can do between the town and school, and they said they will look at anything we come up with, McCormac said. Lupiano began researching to see if other Woodbridge friends and family members had been diagnosed with brain tumors. The diagnoses include several types of primary brain tumors, including cancerous forms like glioblastoma and noncancerous yet debilitating masses such as acoustic neuromas, haemangioblastomas and meningiomas., Brain tumors at colonia high school. If no link is found with the high school specifically, Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, said other potential points of connection in the township will be explored, according to NBC Today. In a statement to CBS News, Lupiano said he is "anxiously awaiting the results of the two-week-long radiological survey which concluded this weekend" and he anticipates he will receive the results in weeks. That decades-long stretch ended in the early 2000s, but recent publicity around the cases prompted an exhaustive new investigation and radiological testing at the Woodbridge Township School District building. Lupiano also suggested a potential link between Colonia High School and a Middlesex, New Jersey, sampling plant in his interview with NJ Spotlight. Environmental scientist Al Lupiano is. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired UK, Popular Science and Youth Today, among others. Without analyzing the data herself, Platz said shes not able to estimate how many of the 15,000 people who have gone through Colonia High in the past 30 years would need to have developed cancer for it to be considered a cluster. The gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. According to MyCentralJersey.com, the issue stems from legal concerns over the potential risk of offering a medical procedure with which municipal officials have no experience. Lupiano eventually arrived at a single linking factor between himself, his wife and his sister: they each attended Colonia High School in Woodbridge in the 1990s. Over 100 former students and staff from a New Jersey high school have been diagnosed with brain tumors. But Lupiano was not initially sure that the high school was a link to the similar yet rare brain tumor cases until he made a request on Facebook for others who attended Colonia to reach out to him personally. The school has stayed open because there's no evidenced or discernible threat at this point, parents have said district officials told them, citing reports from local, state and federal investigators. Woodbridge officials are now trying to determine an underlying cause for the disease. The environmental engineering firm T+M Associates was. McCormac and Lupiano are waiting to hear back from the EPA. After his sister's death in February, Lupiano became convinced of a link between the Colonia. Al Lupiano first sent public nearly two months ago about concerns of a cancer cluster related to Colonia High School. READ MORE: Former Woodbridge, N.J. resident says 65 people who either attended or worked at Colonia High School have had rare brain tumors. But as the study continues, a number of people in the community are looking for some kind of reassurance. COLONIA, N.J. -- There is a growing push to go back to remote learning at one New Jersey high school, but not because of COVID fears. He just needs a place. To find something like this is a significant discovery, Dr. Sumul Raval, one of New Jerseys top neuro-oncologists, told the outlet. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. While benign, treatment can leave victims with hearing loss, trouble balancing, and several other serious symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. Out of roughly 10,000 people, having more than five dozen cases of brain tumors and cancers is far above the average. The EPA says that inhaling radon for a long time increases your risk of lung cancer. To confirm a true cancer cluster, epidemiologists must establish that there's a greater number of cancer cases than would be expected in a given population, based on their specific characteristics such as age, sex and geography, at a given time, Platz said. The four-year high school has more than 1,300 students. 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. A single New Jersey man has uncovered a medical mystery apparently linking 100 people diagnosed with rare cancers or tumors to a Woodbridge high school. Even though the cluster cases ended almost two decades ago, Lupiano appears as determined as ever to uncover the cause -- and he understands that parents who send their kids to school there now may have some concerns despite what officials tell them. / CBS News. But brain . 55, for example, died from glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor, in 2016 after graduating in 1981. "That's probably been the biggest fear of all," Lupiano said. Earlier this year, 1989 Colonia High School graduate Al Lupiano developed a list of more than 120 people who were students, teachers or staff members at the school from the 1970s to 1990s. "But I understand why anyone would be concerned. McCormac said he was very concerned to learn of the possible link. T&M Associates of Middletown and its team of environmentalists are scheduled to begin collecting data at the high school this weekend by placing radon canisters throughout the building to collect air samples, according to township officials. Immediate action from our State and Federal agencies is warranted," Lupiano said. The issue became national headline in the United States after CBS News aired a story on it. "I talked to him a little bit and learned about what he had been working on," McCormactoldNew Jersey 101.5. "This approach of calculating the expected number was done to provide context to . An environmental assessment began last month to test the school grounds, which turned up no findings of radiological contaminants, according to NJ.com, a New Jersey news site. Outdoors, radon disperses rapidly and, generally, is not a health issue. This is only one of many, many tests that can be performed. I have a really bad feeling were going to find contamination beyond the high school. A man investigating his former high school in New Jersey says he has counted 115 people who attended or worked there have had a rare brain tumor. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, .. Advertisement .. Over 100 Former Students, Staff Of New Jersey School Get Rare Cancer, Probe Launched, S Jaishankar's "Firm" Reply To UK Minister Who Raised BBC Tax Row: Sources, Nithyananda's 'Republic Of Kailasa' At UN Meet. He's looking for a place to host the screenings in early June and says he's had trouble working with local officials to find one. 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