Marines At Camp Lejeune Have A Particularly High Rate of Male Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is most commonly associated with women, however, male US Marines at Camp Lejeune also suffer from the disease

Tuesday, August 9, 2022 - One has to look no further than official government websites to find the admissions that have been made relating to water and air contamination from improperly disposing of hazardous waste at the Camp Lejeune Marine Base in North Carolina and other military installations across the nation. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for Camp Lejeune North Carolina on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website, conducted a Camp Lejeune cancer incident study to clarify why so many marines, civilian workers, and their family members including young children, respectively, had developed and died from cancer. The focus of the study leaned toward men who had developed breast cancer, a highly unusual disease among men with only .7% (7 out of 1000) being male. The study's focus was on how drinking local Camp Lejeune tap water containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may have caused this rare condition. The study looked at both residential (tap water) and workplace exposure to toxic chemicals and the resultant incidences of cancer. The CDC study focused on Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune for 10 years beginning in 1975 and ending in 1985 when the most heavily contaminated wells were shut down, and civilian exposure to chemical contaminants in drinking water starting in 1972. Federal and state cancer registries were examined. A higher rate of male breast cancer stood out among an overall higher cancer incident rate. According to the CDC, "The study included 71 men with breast cancer and 373 men who had other cancers. ATSDR used the Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) cancer registry to identify these cases and controls. ATSDR selected the controls from cancers that are not associated with solvent exposure; this included 270 men with skin cancer, 71 with mesothelioma, and 32 with bone cancer."

The results of the male breast cancer study were not surprising and confirmed the association between drinking Camp Lejeune tap water contaminated with toxic chemicals tetrachloroethylene (PCE), t-1,2 dichloroethylene (DCE), and vinyl chloride, and the high rate of male breast cancer. "Exposures to trichloroethylene (TCE), PCE, DCE, and vinyl chloride were also observed to possibly accelerate the onset of male breast cancer," according to the CDC. Other aspects of the CDC Camp Lejeune water study include studying adverse birth outcomes, mortality causes and rates among civilian employees, mortality among marines and naval personnel at Camp Lejeune, and perhaps most importantly, incidences of birth defect and childhood cancer. The male breast cancer study and the others will help marines and civilian employees file a Camp Lejeune Justice Act claim once the President signs the bill into law expected in the weeks to come. The Act allows marines and civilian employees with cancer or have a family member with cancer to file a lawsuit against the Federal government seeking lump-sum monetary compensation in addition to their existing VA health benefits.

Information provided by CampLejeuneJusticeActClaim.com, a website devoted to providing news about Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claim, including a free no-cost, no-obligation Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claim.