Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift. At the time of the CBS interview in late March, Lupiano claimed to have confirmed 65 cases of rare brain tumors, all affecting people who either attended or worked at Colonia High School. Find your municipality in this alphabetical list to see how its average property tax bill for 2021 compares to others. The chances of one person gettingacoustic neuroma are roughly 1 in 100,000, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. A former Woodbridge man has identified 84 Colonia High School alumni and former staffers with rare brain tumors and wants health officials to investigate. Lupianowould liketheir investigators to come in over spring break so that students are not disturbed. Among the others diagnosed with brain cancer was Lupianos younger sister, who passed away from the disease in February at the age of 44. 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. This is how New Jersey saw the world from 1940-to 1980. "I'm getting reports of whole blocks in and around the neighborhood, that they call themselves 'Cancer Alley,'" Lupiano said. 100 stories of shock and disbelief with the diagnosis. All rights reserved. Lupiano's quest for information took him to Facebook last month, and that list of people who went to or worked at Colonia High School - and have a primary brain tumor - is now closing in on 100 cases. According to NJ Spotlight News, McCormac has been contacted by at least five agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New Jersey Department of Health. The mayor has reached out to the state Department of Health, Department of Environmental Protection and the Federal Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, according to CBS New York. "This is only the tip of the iceberg. But just because there is an investigation does not necessarily mean there's a cancer cluster, Platz told Live Science. His condition was rare, but he was successfully treated. DeCillis earned her doctorate of nursing practice from Rutgers Universityin 2015. Because I dont think its right to say theres no threat to teachers and students if you didnt take a single soil or groundwater sample.. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Lupiano said he has had meetings with county, state and federal agencies, which he said in a March 25 post "are going well.". All these photos are from AP and Getty publications, meaning they were used in a magazine or newspaper. Support our nonprofit newsroom. The City of Woodbridge has hired experts to conduct radiation tests inside school buildings and on school grounds, according to NJ Spotlight News. Lupiano was diagnosed with a rare and abnormally large brain tumour Acoustic Neuroma (AN) in 1999 when he was just 27 years old. The gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Notably, brain cancer is rarer than other cancers. Tripadvisor names the world's top 25 beaches, three in the U.S. katherine noelle wyman; cape breton post obituaries 2022. location symbol text in word; list of female jockeys australia; mike conley house columbus ohio address Al Lupiano, his wife Michele, and his sister Angela DeCillis all graduated from CHS between 1989 and 1995. "For the most part I'm pretty good today," Lupiano said. The last case was a while ago, like 2000," Kapadia said. "However, I still think we need to expedite the next phase of testing including water, soil, and air, to determine if more than one contaminant is present," he said. No one knows why. "I don't know what the cause is," Lupiano said. Back in March, Colonia High graduate Al Lupiano posted his theory about possible links between brain tumors diagnoses among 1990s and early 2000s graduates of Colonia High and since then, he gathered the names of at least 110 grads with brain tumors, according to Fox News Digital. Its way too early to call it a cancer cluster, said Dr. Joseph Landolfi, chief medical officer at JFK Medical Center in Edison, and its director of neuro-oncology. Woodbridge officials are now trying to determine an underlying cause for the disease. Like 6 Comments |. Mitesh Kapadia moved right next to Colonia High just a few years ago. The announcement comes on the heels of the development that a New Jersey man who graduated from the high school that he believes is linked to a mysterious cluster of brain tumors dating back decades -- and to his own diagnosis -- says he's gotten a New York City-based foundation signed on to offer free brain scans to people in the community who may not otherwise have access. Views expressed by our advertisers and sponsors are their own, and are not endorsed by NJ Spotlight News. The brain tumor cases, appearing over a thirty-year period, are a significant medical mystery that has caused alarm for experts. After his sisters death in February, Lupiano became convinced of a link between the Colonia campus and the brain cancers that he, his wife and his sister had developed. His sister died from it in February. First published on April 25, 2022 / 10:26 AM. The number of reported victims has been growing since Al Lupiano, a former student in the 1980s and a cancer victim himself, appealed for names in a Facebook post on March 7. "When I looked at the email and I saw the data I just dropped. The question is why? For now, radiation levels in and around the school are being monitored in a two-week test that began on April 9 by a private contractor hired by the municipality. Now, he's gone public with the suggestion that Colonia could be one such site. It is possible that soil from the plant had been trucked to Colonia High School during its construction in 1967, NJ Spotlight reported. 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. Al Lupiano, a Colonia High School graduate is on a mission to answer that question after discovering more than 80 fe. McCormac and Lupiano are waiting to hear back from the EPA. I dont think this is the end of the story. A mystery in Colonia 94 people from 1 N.J. high school developed brain tumors. Lupiano is wondering whether some of that soil ended up on the school grounds. Updated on: April 26, 2022 / 8:21 AM That's what makes the numbers staggering," says Lupiano. But he made a promise to his late sister that he would find out. America today woke up to the news that brain cancer has been detected in more than 100 former students at a New Jersey high school. "We can get in there today and take air, water and soil samples and have results back the same day," Lupiano said. "Her four children are potentially being exposed to the same thing that killed their mother. The community suspects a cancer cluster, and would like it investigated, and I think thats a very reasonable request. 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. Im doing this not only for my wife, my sister my nieces are currently in the school but this deserves further understanding. 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. '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. Because cancer clusters are often suspected in very small subpopulations like neighborhoods, apartment buildings or homes on the same side of the street they can be very difficult to establish, Platz said. "I never in my worst nightmare envisioned ever hitting this milestone. They will remain in place for 14 days before being sent to a lab for analysis. 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. Were all concerned, and we all want to get to the bottom of this. / CBS New York. Age, exposure to radiation and family history are all risk factors. Print |. As a Rutgers University graduate with a major in environmental sciences and a minor inindustrial hygiene safety engineering, he's made a career of cleaning up unsafe sites. 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. The Township of Woodbridge, in cooperation with the Woodbridge Township School District, has taken the proactive initiative to contract with T&M and Cabrera Services, Inc., a nationally recognized radiological and environmental remediation company, to engage their team of environmentalists to begin collecting data at Colonia High School, the town said in a statement. The states Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette backed up the mayors declaration the school was safe. "The high school was the first thing to be there, so there was probably nothing in the ground at that time," he said. also a graduate of the high school, died recently from brain cancer. Rather than looking at all central nervous system cancers over 30 years, investigators will likely look at rates of specific types of brain tumors and how long after high school these tumors developed, she said. 100 PEOPLE WITH RARE TUMORS WHO ATTENDED SAME NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL DEMAND ANSWERS The 110 people that Lupiano has counted on his list of former Colonia High School graduates have been. "I dont know that we know enough yet to be definitive in terms of causation, et cetera.". 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 viral TikTok video discussing the purported cancer cluster was posted Wednesday by popular personality Dr. Joe Whittington. More: 'It can't be a coincidence': Colonia High School community probes mysterious cancer cases. Dating back decades, newly detailed reports of more than 100 cases of brain tumors among former students and staff at Colonia High School in Woodbridge have raised obvious concerns. 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. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired UK, Popular Science and Youth Today, among others. Lupiano also suggested a potential link between Colonia High School and a Middlesex, New Jersey, sampling plant in his interview with NJ Spotlight. This is definitely not normal.. New York, "With that in mind, and after many weeks of work, I was able to negotiate an agreement with BTF to provide this service completely FREE of charge.". Jon can be contacted by email at jonhurdle@gmail.com. Many more came forward after the posting, and by Thursday, the number had grown to 103, Lupiano told NJ Spotlight News. He had developed 'rare' brain tumor some 20 years ago. But how will officials figure out if a true cancer cluster exists or if the cases are simply a coincidence? Dangerous drunk driving in South Brunswick, NJ cops nearly hit, Perth Amboy, NJ super rebukes teachers union for urging student walkout, Student walkout, protest planned after Perth Amboy NJ fifth-grader stabbed, Driver flees on foot after crash kills East Windsor, NJ mom, NJ man giving massages groped women at Plainsboro gym, cops say, Perth Amboy after school stabbing leaves 11-year-old hurt, child in custody, As NJ councilwoman is laid to rest, many questions about her execution-style slaying, New Brunswick, NJ burglar repeatedly confronted by residents, Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and EEO Report. 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. PROMISING CANCER VACCINE IN THE WORKS UTILIZING SIMILAR MRNA TECHNOLOGY THAT COMBATS COVID: DUKE RESEARCHERS. 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. 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 research indicating a possible link between the school and brain tumor cases among former students and staff. If we dont find anything, we have to start looking at other potential candidates, whether its chemicals or something in the soil or air. The results from the environmental study that was conducted at a New Jersey high school campus enveloped in a brain tumor cluster mystery among graduates and workers at the school revealed no traces of radioactivity were found in the school. The plant then "decontaminated to the standards in effect at the time," though "overlooked during decontamination were traces of radioactive materials that had been carried offsite over the years by wind and rain to yards of neighboring homes," the USACE New York Division said on its website. Advertisement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. WOODBRIDGE A New Jersey man is on amission to find a link between rare braintumors inmore than 60 graduates and former staff at Colonia High School, including his wife and late sister. Video discussing the purported cancer cluster exists or if the cases are simply coincidence. Similar MRNA TECHNOLOGY that COMBATS COVID: DUKE RESEARCHERS and by Thursday the... On a mission to answer that question after discovering more than 80 fe of the iceberg sister! A true cancer cluster exists or if the cases are simply a coincidence ': Colonia High school brain! 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