Is there Higher than average Cancer cases in Delaware??? (New Castle: home, live in)

[njguy]

My parents are considering selling their Northern NJ home and possibly relocating to Delaware and don't know where in Delaware yet if it happens.

I've only heard rumors of higher than average cancer cases in Delaware and was hoping someone would be able to shed light on this.

I looked for posts pertaining to this and didn't find them right off and I apologize in advance if there is.

Thanks so very much.

[ltdontcare]

Yes, google it and you will see.

[virgode]

Originally Posted by njguy

My parents are considering selling their Northern NJ home and possibly relocating to Delaware and don't know where in Delaware yet if it happens.

I've only heard rumors of higher than average cancer cases in Delaware and was hoping someone would be able to shed light on this.

I looked for posts pertaining to this and didn't find them right off and I apologize in advance if there is.

Thanks so very much.

Its true, currently theres not a thread up on the topic, if I'm correct I think
if you check in "Is Delaware really so boring?"
We have a poster in De forum, "doctorjef" he can give you all the info
you'll need on the topic.

New Castle county is the problem, Kent and Sussex to my knowledge are fine.

[doctorjef]

I'm afraid I can't give a lot of info on this. There are several cancer clusters in the state and they do include areas in Sussex, so probably Kent as well. They're not just in New Castle County. The News Journal has published stories and a map of the identified clusters in the past. I'm sure the map is available somewhere on-line. You should probably google something like "Delaware cancer clusters". I would think that these have been identified by the CDC and possibly are also an issue for the EPA. AFAIK there hasn't been any research published that casts light on the demographics and environomental factors specific to these areas, so the epidemiology for the clusters isn't entirely clear (obviously people will infer environmental factors having to do with DE's industrial history). That's all I know, I'm afraid.

[Gone-2-Beach]

You know, this cancer scare nonsense is really starting get old and annoying. Yes, there are cancer clusters in Delaware as well as in every other state in the country. The answer to the original poster's question is NO.

Specifically, the incidence of cancer in Delaware is 487.5 people per 100,000 population. The incidence of cancer in your parent's home state of New Jersey is 496.4 people per 100,000 population, 1.8% higher than Delaware. This however, does not address the following: types of cancer, treatment and cure rates, specific geographic concerns, gender, age, ethnicity and so many other factors that any additional statistics quoted here can become mind-numbing.

I have cancer now. I didn't when I first starting discussing statistics here. I have Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Had I discovered this ten years ago, it might have been a death sentence. Now, I am being treated with two different forms of chemotherapy concurrently and expect to be cured. See the word? Cured! What we can do now with cancer is amazing compared to years earlier, so the statistical data tells you about the past, not the future!

Further, Delaware has been working to clear up much of it's cancer issue. If you have some time to do some reading, try this: The Next Four-Year Plan (http://www.delawarecancerconsortium.org/The-Next-Four-Year-Plan - broken link)

Oh, and by the way, I still live in New York. I have not made it to Delaware yet. And I live in a geographic area with extremely low statistics for cancer. Go figure!!