The Study encompasses a comprehensive cancer assessment. Our approach combines both risk assessment and an examination of actual cancer data. Data from the California Health Map and Cancer Registry will provide detailed insights into cancer diagnoses within the impact zone, spanning periods before, during, and after the disaster. This dual approach is paramount for comprehensive analysis and the ability to provide meaningful and plausible explanations for any elevated cancer rates we may encounter.
Analyzing cancers can be particularly challenging due to their long latency periods, which is the time between exposure to a carcinogen and the manifestation of the disease. Therefore, our approach focuses on cancers with shorter latency periods, including various blood cancers. We will also examine cancers known to have associations with contaminants emitted from the facility, such as blood cancers due to their known connection to benzene exposure and nasopharyngeal cancers linked to formaldehyde exposures. We are also studying if health care use patterns for patients with cancer change.