Apr 23, 2019 3 min read

A review by the Pennsylvania Department of Health of the number of Ewing’s sarcoma and Ewing family of tumors cases in Washington County and the Canon-McMillan School District in recent years has concluded that no cancer cluster exists.

The report states, “Based on the data we currently have, when compared to incidence rates for the rest of the Pennsylvania population, male and female incidence rates for the Ewing’s family of tumors and childhood cancers in Washington County and Canon-McMillan School District were not consistently and statistically significantly higher than expected in all three time periods analyzed.”

However, the report concluded that rates for some types of radiation-related cancer – such as breast, colon, gallbladder, liver, stomach and ovary cancer, leukemia and myeloma – were somewhat higher than expected in Washington County or Canon-McMillan School District.

But, the cancer incidence rates, the report notes, were not statistically significantly higher in both gender groups or consistently and significantly higher in the three time periods analyzed.

The DOH studied cancer data from three periods: 1985-1994, 1995-2004 and 2005-2017.

The review was initiated by the DOH in March as a result of residents’ ongoing concerns about a number of Ewing’s sarcoma cases in the Canon-McMillan School District and Washington County.

In the past 10 years, six people with ties in the school district have been diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma.

Currently, two men who live within Canon-McMillan School District, Mitchell Barton, 21, and David Cobb, are undergoing treatment for Ewing’s.

Both were diagnosed in 2018, so their cases are not included in the DOH study.

Luke Blanock, a classmate and baseball teammate of Barton’s, was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in 2013 and battled the disease for three years until he died in 2016 at the age of 19.

Canon-Mac graduate Kyle Deliere, a standout athlete and student, died in 2013 at the age of 27.

According to the DOH study, there were more Ewing’s family of tumors cases in Washington County in the most recent time period than earlier time periods, but Ewing’s incidence rates were lower than the rest of the state for all three time periods and were not found to be statistically significant.

Each year, about 250 children in the United States are diagnosed with a Ewing’s family of tumors illness.

Regarding radiation-related cancers, the report concluded the incidence of leukemia in males was 31 percent higher than the rest of the state during 1985-1994, and the gallbladder cancer incidence rates in males and the total population were 76 percent higher and 39 percent higher, respectively, than the rest of the state during 1995 to 2004. None of those are statistically significantly different from the rest of the state today.

State Rep. Tim O’Neal, R-South Strabane, is scheduled to hold a meeting today with elected officials, state agencies and doctors from UPMC in Pittsburgh to discuss the cancer cases.

In a statement released by the DOH, spokesman Nate Wardle said, “The Department of Health takes seriously the concerns about Ewing family of tumors and pediatric cancers raised by this community and other communities in the commonwealth.”

He said the DOH will continue to closely monitor Ewing family of tumors and pediatric cancer incidence in the state over the next several years as new data becomes available.