When a rash of people from the same workplace are
diagnosed with the same cancer, alarm bells ring
Imagine living with the worry that something at your workplace could be causing cancer. That's the reality for workplaces caught in a cancer cluster scare. The latest alarm has been raised at the ABC's Melbourne studios, three years after a cluster of 17 breast cancer cases at the ABC Brisbane headquarters forced the site's closure.
Cancer experts say that in 99.9 per cent of clusters investigated, there is no underlying cause found, meaning that most clusters are mere coincidence. But that's little solace to staff members comforting stricken colleagues and wondering if something in their work environment might be threatening their lives. Breast cancer survivor and former ABC newsreader Lisa Backhouse, who was the face of the fight to have the Toowong studios in Brisbane closed, says being part of a cancer cluster makes going to work a stressful, draining experience.
"This must be a very frightening time for the women of the ABC in Melbourne, particularly in light of what happened in Brisbane," says Backhouse, now a part-time relief newsreader and health reporter with Channel Nine in Brisbane. "Being part of a cancer cluster is terrifying." At ABC Toowong, an expert panel found the breast cancer rate was six times higher than that of the general population and the staff of 400 was relocated. Tests were conducted, but no cause was found.
Fears of a new cluster at the ABC in Melbourne, with three cases of breast cancer emerging, have been dismissed as coincidence. A recent Cancer Council NSW study into all ABC sites across Australia found no evidence of a cluster at any ABC site apart from Toowong.Cancer is common: one in three Australian men and one in four women will be diagnosed with it by age 75, according to Cancer Australia. So it's inevitable that some workplaces will appear to be hit by a rash of cancer cases by coincidence.
"People win the lottery sometimes, and the odds of winning the lottery are one in several billion, so these plays of chance actually do occur," says Cancer Council NSW CEO Dr Andrew Penman. Clusters can also appear when several people decide to be tested for cancer around the same time, such as lots of women checking their breasts for lumps after a flurry of publicity. So when is a cancer cluster more than mere coincidence?
Experts sit up and take notice when several people develop the same type of cancer, or a rare type of cancer is involved, the cancers appear in younger than usual age groups, and the rate is several times higher than expected. Dr Penman says that while the ABC Melbourne rates were slightly higher than that of the general population, other ABC sites had lower rates, and it's normal to expect highs and lows in small groups. "At the extreme, obviously, if you look at an individual and that person develops cancer, the rate of cancer in that person is 100,000 in 100,000 people," he says.
Dr Geza Benke, senior research fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, has helped investigate several apparent cancer clusters in workplaces and says people often struggle to understand that coincidence may be the only factor at play. "I find people are convinced it's got to be something in the environment, or a chemical in the workplace or something like that," Dr Benke says. "But there's always going to be hotspots. There are going to be highs and lows through chance alone."
Dr Benke says some of science's greatest breakthroughs have come from cancer clusters, through scientists linking a particular chemical or agent to the disease. But only a handful of cancer clusters are ever found to be significant. At RMIT's business school in Melbourne, a string of seven brain tumours among students and staff forced the university to close two floors of the city building for two months in 2006. An investigation later found there was no cluster.
Experts last year also ruled out a cancer cluster at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra after concerns were raised in 2000 that five security staff and up to nine other employees had contracted cancer. Five years on, Backhouse is disappointed that the mystery of the Toowong cancer cluster will never be solved. "Unfortunately the scientific testing at Toowong was abandoned before any conclusions could discover whether there was something in the operational set-up that was causing the problem," says Backhouse.
"While we've had to put our trust in the scientists, it's a dreadful shame nothing has been identified, as it could be an ongoing problem for women at the ABC in Brisbane."Authorities have closed the books on the ABC Melbourne case, even though the Cancer Council study only investigated cases up to 2005 because more recent national cancer data was unavailable. But Backhouse wants further investigation. "Clearly, the study is incomplete as it only took into account women up to [the year] 2005," she says. "Your life is more important than your job, and while the jury is still out on whether the Melbourne office is a cluster, the stress alone can damage a person's health and wellbeing."
Lisa's story
Lisa Backhouse was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer at age 35 in 2004 after 11 years working at the ABC's Toowong studios. Several of her colleagues had already contracted the disease. The mother of two was in surgery within a week of diagnosis, started chemotherapy within three weeks, then endured radiation therapy. The hormone treatment she received brought on menopause and prevented her from having more children. Here is her story:
"Alarm bells started to ring when a succession of ladies were diagnosed in a very short amount of time. In under three years seven women had been diagnosed, four of them under the age of 40. Most of us sat at the same desk."
"Nothing can truly describe what it feels like to receive a cancer diagnosis. I was overwhelmed with grief and incapacitated by fear. Everything was geared for looking ahead; to planning, hoping, striving for one thing: my life."
"I do believe in coincidence, but I'm also a pragmatist. If we'd had different types of cancer or if we had fitted the mould of a typical breast cancer victim, it would be easier to accept that this cluster may have occurred through chance."
"I promised myself during chemotherapy that from now on, I'd embrace every opportunity and really live. Last year I went to Europe for six weeks with my family. It was exhilarating. "I'm still recovering from the latest surgery, some overdue reconstruction work. It was pretty rugged but important to finish so I can move on."
"Having to stare down your mortality at such a young age has a profound effect. These days I have at least found some peace and just enjoy every moment with my beautiful family."
Source: http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/
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