colonia high school brain cancer

Lupiano eventually arrived at a single linking factor between himself, his wife and his sister: they each attended Colonia High School in Woodbridge in the 1990s. Check the photos below. In 1999, at age 27, he was diagnosed with a large, benign brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma. Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord, according to the Mayo Clinic. 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. It can seem connected, when in reality, cancer is quite common and people are simply noticing this fact. Despite the number of possible cases, officials say they must first determine if there is any scientific evidentiary connection between the school grounds and the brain tumors. His wife was similarly diagnosed with an abnormally large AN tumor, and his sister was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), which has an incident rate of 30 out of every 1 million people, Lupiano explained in a Facebook post that he has been updating since March 7. His illness was diagnosed in 1999; hers in 2001. Lupiano was diagnosed with a rare and abnormally large brain tumour Acoustic Neuroma (AN) in 1999 when he was just 27 years old. This is terrific news for the current students of Colonia High School and their parents, who worried about their safety, along with current staff members, and is also great news for all former students who attended and staff who worked at Colonia High School.. Today, Colonia enrolls approximately 1,300 students, with many said to be anxious about the possible cancer cluster. A copy of Lupianos list, with the names and phone numbers of victims redacted, includes some who, like Lupiano himself, graduated decades ago. His sister Angela Decillis. T&M Associates of Middletown and its team of environmentalists are scheduled to begin collecting data at the high school this weekend by placing radon canisters throughout the building to collect air samples, according to township officials. Lupiano was diagnosed with a brain tumor back in the late 1990s, at the age of 27. Colonia High School Officials conduct a radiological survey on the school's baseball field. It "was an entry point for African uranium ores known as pitchblende" that were "imported for use in the nations early atomic energy program, were assayed at the Middlesex Sampling Plant and then shipped to other sites for processing," according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New York Division. Over 122 people connected to Colonia High School were found to have brain tumors. Starting this weekend, various radiological assessments will be conducted across the schools 28-acre campus, including the testing of indoor air samples for radon. The mayorsays only the experts are qualifiedto make an actionable connection between the cases and CHS. Al Lupiano, an environmental scientist, began. or redistributed. A consultant will be testing the grounds at Colonia High School, New Jersey, amid concerns that the school is linked to a high rate of rare brain cancers. Updated on: May 4, 2022 / 11:30 PM An environmental study of Colonia High School in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey that took place after 94 former students and staff developed brain tumors found no evidence of "cancer . 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. There's no proof yet that anything at CHS is the cause. Colonia High School A cluster of brain tumors and cancer in people associated with a single New Jersey high school is causing concern. That decades-long stretch ended in the early 2000s, but recent publicity around the cases prompted an exhaustive new investigation and radiological testing at the Woodbridge Township School District building. A part of the campus is named for Pat Barbato - a longtime football coach and athletic director. Make no mistake when the department believes that people are at risk we act and immediately so, he told media members. But doubts that the tumor cases represent a cancer cluster are unwarranted, said Lupiano, who predicted strong protests in the Woodbridge community if state and federal authorities dont start a formal investigation soon. CBS News has reached out and is awaiting response from the principal of the school, superintendent and mayor as well as the Federal Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. This is only one of many, many tests that can be performed. By that time, we hope the federal agencies are going to take over. For the past two decades, he's spoken with other victims, comforting them on message boards and Facebook. "We continue receiving lip service, that we're here to help, but when we look around, they are nowhere to be found.". First published on May 4, 2022 / 10:52 PM. 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. Early testing at the Woodbridge school by a consultant for the . Age, exposure to radiation and family history are all risk factors. "If there's a unique exposure, we would expect a unique cancer type," Platz said. Landolfi and others said theres not enough evidence to support fears that the illnesses were caused by exposure to high levels of radiation, with one theory that the cause may have been a rock containing uranium used in a science lab. Two weeks from now, if we dont hear anything from the federal agencies, theres going to be a lot of yelling and screaming, and the parents are going to run out of patience, he said. The brain tumor cases, appearing over a thirty-year period, are a significant medical mystery that has caused alarm for experts. But to date we dont have any environmental factors that are known to cause brain tumors.. Lupianowould liketheir investigators to come in over spring break so that students are not disturbed. But in 2021, his wife and sister, also. And in March 2022, a few weeks after his sister's death due to her malignant tumor, Lupiano posted his findings to Facebook in search of more patients. Theres lots and lots of people calling me, saying, Look, I didnt go to the high school, but I live a mile away, and we call our block cancer alley,' said Lupiano. Al Lupiano was diagnosed with a "very rare" and abnormally large brain tumor in 1999 when he was 27 called Acoustic Neuroma. 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. A look back: Al Lupiano was diagnosed with acoustic neuroma, a . Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story. '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. Jason Wisinski, who lost his wife and sister-in-law, both Colonia High alumnae, to . If no link is found with the high school specifically, Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, said other potential points of connection in the township will be explored, according to NBC Today. He believes something at the high school in one of the more suburban and affluent sections of the township is responsible for dozens of brain cancer cases. He went on to recover from the disease. Find your municipality in this alphabetical list to see how its average property tax bill for 2021 compares to others. Lupiano also suggested a potential link between Colonia High School and a Middlesex, New Jersey, sampling plant in his interview with NJ Spotlight. NJ high school linked to mystery cancer cases. The viral TikTok video discussing the purported cancer cluster was posted Wednesday by popular personality Dr. Joe Whittington. "I started doing some research and the three became five, the five became seven, the seven became 15," he told CBS News York. While benign, treatment can leave victims with hearing loss, trouble balancing, and several other serious symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. "As previously stated, there is basically one medically proven cause of rare brain tumors like ours radiation," he wrote. (Al Lupiano), "[A]s of midnight Sunday 4/10, I recorded the 100th case of someone having a primary brain tumor," Luapiano said in an update on his Faceboook post. She holds a bachelor's degree in biotechnology from theUniversity of Kentucky and master's degrees in food technology from Aarhus University and journalism from New York University. Only 72 of the suspected cancer clusters were confirmed to have an increased incidence of cancer within the cluster. Lupiano eventually arrived at a single linking factor between himself, his wife and his sister: they each attended Colonia High School in Woodbridge in the 1990s. And over the last 18 years, Lupiano has worked forMarine Spill Response Corp. The devoted brother promised his sister on her deathbed that he would get to the bottom of what was causing the apparent cancer cluster at Colonia High. The EPA says that inhaling radon for a long time increases your risk of lung cancer. The gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Laumbach argued that thousands of suspected cancer clusters throughout the country dont meet federal government standards for that designation even if they are investigated by public health experts. She died on Feb. 17, 2022, at 44 years old. According to American Association of Neurological Surgeons, glioblastoma is normally extremely rare with an incidence of 3.21 per 100,000 people. Advocates for an official investigation into fears of a "cancer cluster" at the Middlesex County high school say there are parallels to the notorious water system contamination in the Ocean County town that was blamed for more than 130 cases of childhood cancer in the 1990s. And we don't have the same major risk factors for brain cancer as we do for common cancer types, Platz said. "This is terrific news for the current students of Colonia High School and their parents who worried about their safety, along with current staff members. The vast majority of those who have developed brain tumors graduated between 1975 and 2000, although outliers have come as recently as a 2014 graduate, according to the Star-Ledger. Middlesex Sampling Plant to Colonia High School in New Jersey. "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.". He's now among the many calling on the town, state and federal government to do more. In other words, they will need to prove by statistical analysis that more Colonia staff and graduates developed brain cancer than people with their same characteristics (age, sex, location) over the same time. It is now one of the hottest topics to be discussed on TikTok. Dozens of former teachers and students have . His sister died from it in February. ", Colonia High School entrance. "They'll have the means to do air sampling, water sampling and soil sampling," Lupiano told New Jersey 101.5. The same day his sister was diagnosed, his wife, Michele, a 1991 Colonia High School graduate, was diagnosed with a large acoustic neuroma, a rare brain tumor which is life-threatening if left untreated. COLONIA, N.J. -- There is a growing push to go back to remote learning at one New Jersey high school, but not because of COVID fears. Working that out takes time, Platz said. 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. Schools Brain Tumor Link To Colonia High School 'Credible,' Town's Mayor Says A scientist's theory that a contaminant at the Woodbridge school is linked to 65 rare brain tumors is being taken . After his sister's death in February, Lupiano became convinced of a link between the Colonia. It's the largest oil spill cleanup company in the United States. Michele M. Vercoski, a partner of McCune Law Group, is investigating the potential link between the rare brain tumor and many former Colonia High School students out of the MLG's office in Newark, New Jersey. While the family had hoped to move forward following the operation, tests . Out of roughly 10,000 people, having more than five dozen cases of brain tumors and cancers is far above the average. "It's too important. 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. "It seems like in a little over a 20-year period to have 65 people on a list is somewhat alarming, it's quite alarming," said the mayor, who lives blocks away from Colonia High School, but added the link only appears to pertain to people who attended or worked at the high school. The school was built back in 1967 on acres of empty land, with McCormac telling the news network he is stumped as to what could be causing the cancers. For the Lupianos, they believe the chances of all three of them having tumors on the left sides of their brains were too high to be a coincidence. In less than six weeks, Lupiano says, he has gathered the names of 94 people connected with the school who have developed brain tumors. During a press conference, local and state officials said a probe into Colonia High School, located in Woodbridge, found there was no cause and effect relationship between those illnesses and the building and grounds at Colonia High School.. "I'm getting reports of whole blocks in and around the neighborhood, that they call themselves 'Cancer Alley,'" Lupiano said. Further explanation of what occurred at that high school over these decades of people being in the building, Lupiano told Fox News Digital. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Lupiano and McCormac have spoken to officials with the state Department of Health and thefederalAgency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Woodbridge officials are now trying to determine an underlying cause for the disease. I will not rest until I have answers, Lupiano, 50, declared in an interview with NJ.com and the Star-Ledger on Thursday. Janice's sister Chery Black also died from brain cancer in 2015. The cause hasn't been discovered yet, but some researchers suspect . "I hope the results come back with absolutely nothing," he said. Donavyn Coffey is a Kentucky-based health and environment journalist reporting on healthcare, food systems and anything you can CRISPR. Colonia High School (Google Maps) Middlesex County's Colonia High School, located in Woodbridge, has made national headlines in recent weeks after over 100 former students and faculty. She too died last month. The department declined to comment for this story. DeCillis earned her doctorate of nursing practice from Rutgers Universityin 2015. McCormac said residents are expressing concerns, and the township is working to keep everyone updated. ", In an earlier update, Lupiano said many of those who reached out to him about their brain tumor or cancer cases "are former CHS teachers and staff members who didnt live in Colonia, they just worked in the school. "I never in my worst nightmare envisioned ever hitting this milestone. "We absolutely have concerns, the Democrat told NJ.com. 2021 DEADLIEST YEAR IN US HISTORY DUE TO COVID-19, DRUG OVERDOSES. There could be a real problem here, and our residents deserve to know if there are any dangers, Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac said in a statement. We've received your submission. And it is also great news for all former students.". The analysis took several weeks. Stanmyre: Right now, the number this week is up to 117 people who have been found to have a primary brain tumor of some sorts, according to data from Al Lupiano, who is the Colonia graduate who. 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. One parent told the outlet she doesnt think the probe did enough testing because it didnt take water or soil samples. Nearly 100 people attending a single high school in New Jersey have developed rare forms of brain cancer. He just needs a place. On Tuesday after a public push by Lupiano local officials approved an emergency probe of the school. "Both parents of children in school and current teachers and staff deserve answers. The health department also looked at brain cancer rates for Colonia High School and compared them to rates of brain cancer throughout New Jersey and the United States. Brain tumor concerns prompt petition for remote learning at Colonia HS, graduates or staff members with brain tumors, Former Woodbridge, N.J. resident says 65 people who either attended or worked at Colonia High School have had rare brain tumors. His wife and sister both got it. Colonia Mayor John McCormac announced Thursday afternoon the results of the findings of the Environmental Assessment Study that was conducted to investigate if Colonia High School buildings and grounds. He died 15 years ago from brain cancer. 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. "I will not rest until I have answers," the 50-year-old told NJ.com. "Her four children are potentially being exposed to the same thing that killed their mother. "Al has presented enough evidence that warrants further attention, but we have to rely on the experts to draw their conclusions.". Tripadvisor names the world's top 25 beaches, three in the U.S. He alleges that some contaminated soil was removed from the site when it closed down in 1967 the same year Colonia High School was built. 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. Age 27, he told media members one parent told the outlet she think! Comforting them on message boards and Facebook the age of 27 sister also... A significant medical mystery that has caused alarm for experts normally extremely with. The probe did enough testing because it didnt take water or soil samples results come with. Tiktok video discussing the purported cancer cluster was posted Wednesday by popular personality Dr. Joe Whittington a time! To be discussed on TikTok comforting them on message boards and Facebook nightmare envisioned ever hitting milestone! 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