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The 20 million gallons of dioxin-laden Agent
Orange sprayed in Vietnam in the '60s and early
'70s to kill foliage continues to hurt U.S.
soldiers and Vietnamese citizens. A study of
more than 13,000 Vietnam veterans who served
between 1962 and 1971 found that prostate cancer
occurs twice as often in those who were exposed
to the toxin Agent Orange compared to those who
were not exposed to the herbicide. In addition,
Agent Orange-exposed veterans were diagnosed
two-and-a-half years younger and were nearly
four times more likely to develop more
aggressive forms of cancer compared with those
who were not exposed. Other prostate cancer risk
factors such as race, body mass index and
smoking were not statistically different between
the two groups.
The findings, to be published in the Sept. 15
issue of the journal Cancer, are the first to
reliably link the herbicide with prostate c
ancer through a large population study,
according to researchers at the University of
California-Davis Cancer Center. The men in the
study, all in their 60s, are enrolled in the VA
Northern California Health Care System. They
were screened with the prostate-specific antigen
(PSA) test used as a tool for early diagnosis
and tracking of prostate cancer.
"While others have linked Agent Orange to
cancers such as soft-tissue sarcomas, Hodgkin's
disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, there is
limited evidence so far associating it with
prostate cancer," said Karim Chamie, lead author
of the study and resident physician with the UC
Davis Department of Urology and the VA Northern
California Health Care System. "Here we report
on the largest study to date of Vietnam War
veterans exposed to Agent Orange and the
incidence of prostate cancer."
"Just as those with a family history of
prostate cancer or who are of African-American
heritage are screened more frequently, so too
should men with Agent Orange exposure be given
priority consideration for all the screening and
diagnostic tools we have at our disposal in the
hopes of early detection and treatment of this
disease," said study co-author Ralph deVere
White, UC Davis Cancer Center director in a
written statement. (Symptoms of prostate cancer
may include problems passing urine, low back
pain or painful ejaculation, according to the
National Institutes of Health.)
Some cancer physicians were skeptical of the
findings and suggested that increased screening
for prostate cancer resulted in the higher than
normal rates of occurrence.
Prostate cancer is the second most common
form of cancer and the second leading cause of
cancer death in American men. It is estimated
that there will be about 186,320 new cases of
prostate cancer in the United States in 2008 and
about 28,660 men will die of the disease this
year.
Agent Orange was one of several defoliants
containing dioxin tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin
(TCDD) used in Vietnam. It is estimated that
more than 20 million gallons of the chemicals
were sprayed between 1962 and 1971,
contaminating not only ground cover but U.S.
soldiers and Vietnamese citizens. Thirty years
after the U.S. military left Vietnam the country
still has 150,000 children with birth defects
believed to be a result of their parents’
exposure to Agent Orange. |
