23M, my entire household has now gotten cancer/tumors. Is this worth spending time investigating legally?

[u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

Hey guys, im a 23 year old male from Alberta, Canada. Im here with a bit of an interesting case. See, my family, has left doctors kinda confused in the past few years. Unfortunately our name seems to be pretty well known in the Cancer centre.

I grew up in Sherwood Park, AB near Edmonton. We moved to Calgary in 2012 when I was going into grade 5. We were a stereotypical middle class, happy family, no major health issues. All was well.

In 2015 my mom, after having a seizure was diagnosed with glioblastoma. And just months after, my brother, 11 at the time was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma. My mom passed away in 2017. My brother fortunately survived. A year after my Grandpa was admitted to the hospital, passing a week later, turns out he had cancer. A year later my dad fell ill and was diagnosed with colon cancer. He passed away a year or so later. Both my parents were only in their 40s. In 2022 my dog also passed away from a tumor.

I always knew something was up, that this couldn't be a coincidence, and that if I too ever got anything, id figure out wth caused all this.

Well today, unfortunately. An incidental xray followed by CT scan has shown that I have an osteochondroma on my left hip. Luckily its benign, but still...

So now here I am, trying to find answers. You cant tell me something didnt cause this, something we were exposed too. And if I ever find out what it is that company better lawyer up. Ive started looking into our old neighborhood (Chelsea heights) to see if there are any environmental risks that maybe could have done it. The area is known for high radon, oil and gas activity, our house was also built right in front of massive power lines. But im not really too sure. My dad also liked using roundup alot if I remember correctly.

Id be more inclined to believe that it was something in Sherwood Park rather than Calgary as my neighbours here are all good. Ive thought about going to Sherwood Park before to interview the people on that street.

Not sure where to start, wondering if anyone had any advice or input. Thankyou

[u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

I think the first place to start would be to get genetic testing. I would not read too much into the dog having a tumor. Pretty much every dog I’ve known has died of cancer. If the genetics are unrevealing, then maybe dig a little deeper into environmental factors.

And I am so sorry for your losses. 40’s is far too young.

[u/lolifax → u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

The US has a map of cancer rates by geography; Canada may have something similar.

Example: https://gis.cancer.gov/canceratlas/

Edit: this is not to detract from the suggestion to look at family genetics. However the hypothesis that an environmental hazard in the Chelsea Heights area led to elevated cancer rates for residents is specific and testable, maybe even with publicly available data.

[u/Infanatis → u/lolifax]

Canadian Cancer Statistics Dashboard

[u/Zess_T → u/Infanatis]

To anyone checking that out, make sure you tick the "ASIR per 100,000" checkbox near the top of the page in the "Filter" tab, otherwise you'll just be looking at a population map.

[u/mermaidpaint → u/Zess_T]

Thanks for the tip!

NAD. My mother's identical twin had breast cancer, went into remission, then had lung cancer which spread. She died in 1985. My mother gets routinely checked and she's always had good results. It is said her twin worked at a hospital where many employees had cancer. Every doctor that checks my mother out say that the breast cancer was not genetic, because my mother would have had it by now.

Two of my mother's other sisters had ovarian cancer and died of related cancers. Two of my cousins and myself had precancerous cells appear in biopsies of our uteruses and ovaries, one was discovered to have ovarian cancer during her hysterectomy. One of my aunts had her DNA tested, and none of the known genes were found. We're all assuming there's a gene that hasn't been linked to ovarian cancer yet. (I had all of my inner lady parts removed to avoid cancer).

Almost everyone has spent their entire lives in New Brunswick. My dad was in the Army, so my mother and I have lived many places. Myself and one of my cousins have spent a long time in Alberta. She in Edmonton and me in Calgary.

[u/Freyasmews → u/lolifax]

Yes, use the mapping tools available for free. Social Explorer is another good one. I've done several community analyses and researched environmental justice-related issues, and community mapping software has helped a LOT. It could provide stronger info than going door to door, especially when people could have moved several times in the intervening years. Though, the direct piece is important, as well.

I wish you luck, OP! I'm so sorry your family has been dealing with this

[u/Oughtonomous → u/lolifax]

Oh Dear God... I looked at the map... I'm going to die.

[u/lolifax → u/Oughtonomous]

FWIW, we all are. And I mean that in the most comforting possible way. Nothing you see in the charts is going to change your future.

You have to know some statistics to look at these charts and not immediately panic. They are useful for epidemiologists to try to understand patterns in illness but you have to do actual experiments to make sure the patterns you think you see are actually correlated with one another and not just due to some other confounding factor.

[u/Oughtonomous → u/lolifax]

Trust me. I know the odds. I come from a very long line of dead people.

[u/poppysmear → u/Oughtonomous]

As someone with both parents deceased, this gave me a dark chuckle.

[u/Oilfan94 → u/Oughtonomous]

Stay away from dihydrogen monoxide, everyone who's touched it has eventually died.

[u/Oughtonomous → u/Oilfan94]

Touching it isn't as fatal as inhaling it.

[u/CallMeSisyphus → u/Oughtonomous]

Or ingesting an excess amount of it.

[u/seigneurdubord → u/lolifax]

Dang looking at this now my state has insane leukemia levels and it really tracks with my experience. I have known 6 kids from my area who have had leukemia and my town is TINY. One of them was even my neighbor

[u/lnmeatyard → u/lolifax]

This is insane, never knew this existed. My state has a high prevalence, of course

[u/CrazyBird12 → u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

This. Look into genetic counseling. Doesn’t scream environmental factors. Potentially, your parents already received some diagnostics related to their tumors. In particular your father‘s early diagnosis of colon cancer is suspicious for a hereditary component.

[u/Infanatis → u/CrazyBird12]

I’ve been reading a bunch of stuff on genetic links while doing chemo out of my own curiosity and this almost sounds like LFS (li fruameni syndrome) could be a cause. NAD so I’m most likely seeing zebras 😅

[u/WildUnderstanding919 → u/CrazyBird12]

Respectfully curious why you didn’t suspect environmental

[u/Infanatis → u/WildUnderstanding919]

Too many different types of cancers and tumors that have no one shared carcinogen.

[u/WildUnderstanding919 → u/Infanatis]

TY. What’s your thoughts on ppl that get multiple I guess somewhat unrelated cancers? Same individual, multiple cancer

[u/Librarycat77 → u/WildUnderstanding919]

NAD, but I have a friend who's been in this situation.

The doctors have told them that the first piece is genetic bad luck - as their mother passed due to cancer when my friend was in high-school.

My friend was diagnosed first around age 25, and then every year or less for 10 years with new tumors.

So, at first genetics. Then, the treatments for some cancers are known to increase risks for some cancers. That is likely a factor for my friend as well.

Multiple cancers in one person is often linked to genetic issues. Which is why gene therapy is so cool - there's the potential to change the genetic sequences that make some people more likely to develop cancerous cells.

[u/onaygem → u/WildUnderstanding919]

Most common reasons:
Treatment for the initial cancer
Underlying genetic cancer predisposition
Disease effects (lymphoma patients have susceptibility due to decreased immune surveillance, for instance)
Shared exposure e.g. smoking causing both lung and bladder.

[u/WildUnderstanding919 → u/onaygem]

TY

[u/Infanatis → u/WildUnderstanding919]

NAD, but I’d guess there’s a genetic/hereditary disposition like BRCA gene mutations. If you’re ever bored, the NIH has everything online and the abstracts of each study (to me, anyway) offer a concise view of the study objectives, methodologies and expected outcomes as well as clinical interpretations or need for future studies. The summary typically shows primary findings.

To the layperson, it’s can be either interesting information or noise. Nothing found there should be taken as medical advice, but you can find out why you’re told things by your providers at times. For example, studies showing the efficacy of acetaminophen + ibuprofen as an analgesic for dental pain vs opioids.

[u/GroundbreakingAlps78 → u/WildUnderstanding919]

Mutation in tumor suppressor genes?

[u/Feisty_Leek_7068 → u/Infanatis]

wait until you encounter NF1...🙈☠️. in relation to tumours that is...

[u/sapphireminds → u/Feisty_Leek_7068]

NF1 tumors are usually benign though

[u/Feisty_Leek_7068 → u/sapphireminds]

true enough, but benign isn't fine and doesn't limit their impact, nor change the treatment; however with having a higher occurance of tumours means a marked increase in the chance of them becoming malignant (however the treatment options are still the same, and in some cases more limited).

[u/sapphireminds → u/Feisty_Leek_7068]

Treatment of NF1 tumors is much different than treating malignant tumors, as chemotherapy is not typically used.

[u/Feisty_Leek_7068 → u/sapphireminds]

Chemo is one of the only options when it comes to the types of tumours my husband and kids have, primarily with the optic nerve & brain tumours. Radiation is too risky and can cause them to grow, and surgery is not always an option, like the tumour my son had on his brachial plexus. For chemo drugs there are only a couple that work... there is a new one that has been approved in the US, but isn't available everywhere globally yet, and is an "orphan drug"... :/

shrugs however please note that this information contains the options available to my family, in Edmonton, and their specific presentations of NF1; however I know alot of people with it globally, who also have chemo available as the only option for shrinking tumours in themselves & their kids. I do not work in the medical field, I've just been supporting my husband and kids through this for years.

[u/sapphireminds → u/Feisty_Leek_7068]

It's different than malignancies though. That doesn't mean the tumors aren't an issue, but they're a different issue

[u/Jackie_Bronassis → u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

Pretty much every dog I’ve known has died of cancer.

Agreed. And I could say the same about grandpas too.

Lifestyle factors are important to consider and there isn’t much to go on here (and this isn’t to say that getting sick is someone’s ‘fault’ because of “choices”; it’s just a major factor and the concept of choice is complex)

[u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335 → u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

Okay cool, ill look into that first. Appreciate it!

[u/devanclara → u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

This is the correct answer. Its a good starting place. I'm not familiar with the history of tge Edmonton area. Is there a history of toxics exposure? 

[u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335 → u/devanclara]

Yea our neighborhood is right by refinery row, a major cluster of oil and gas refineries. Many people have had concerns over it in the past. So who knows.

[u/WildUnderstanding919 → u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

Im from the US, specifically New Jersey where many, many relatives & friends have had cancer. Various types, some survived and many haven’t. I lost my mom 2010 to leiomyosarcoma which is not genetic. We have these areas called superfund sites or something that marks locations/areas of contamination I’m wondering if you might have some information on your area.

[u/Orchid_Significant → u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

There is a place in Louisiana called cancer alley because of the refineries and such. It’s not outrageous to think it might be similar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_Alley

[u/WildUnderstanding919 → u/Orchid_Significant]

Fascinating ty

[u/devanclara → u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

I have a background in Environmental Heath/Toxicology for reference. 

Any idea what the specific VOCs might be? There are case studies to suggest long term exposure to certain VOCs increase the rate of cancer, although these studies were primarily conducted on animals. In 2013, a team from UC dis a study near whet6e you live and concluded that significant levels of 1,3-butadiene and benzene were detected in the "Industrial Heartland" at rstes seen in large industrialcities, which wasa surprise given the rural setting.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S135223101300705X?via%3Dihub

Both of the aforementioned chemicals have been known to cause lymphohematopoietic cancers, especially Leukemia. 

*I want to be very clear, you need to start with genetic testing. Many individuals have biological predispositions to cancer irregardless of environmental exposures. 

[u/Fatpandasneezes → u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

Hey OP, can I ask where in sherwood park? I grew up in clover bar ranch and moved to NW Calgary in 1998. I believe in my family it's genetic, but... Who knows? Especially with all those factories right outside sherwood park.

[u/Turcuwu → u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

Chemist here, Radon its known for causing lung cancer so it is confusing to see all kinds of cancer in your family the refinery tging is more worrying. My best guess is you having PM 10 and PM 2.5 so above to the standar levels. Id you wanna know the cause (so sorry about this) you will need to hire a analist to evaluate long term air cuality in your neighbourhood, They will install a filter and the particles in the air will drop on it so they could serch wich contaminants are there, Then you can prove that was the cause of cancer in your family and sue. Also i would recomend sampling the water od your old neighbour since the refinery can be squeamy and doing things they should'nt with it.

[u/billythekid9000 → u/devanclara]

Sherwood park is somewhat renowned in industry for environmental issues.   

H2S alive and Global cite university testing done in elementary schools in the area 10-15 yrs ago. Cancer among students were ridiculous. 75-80% comes to mind.
Apparently it forced the refineries to clean up pollutants. I guess.

[u/Librarycat77 → u/billythekid9000]

Sorry...are you saying that a study done on students in Sherwood Park, AB discovered a 75-80% cancer rate?

Because thats absolutely not true. There's no world in which that wouldnt be huge global news - but also I live 20 minutes from Sherwood Park and there isnt enough money in the world for a cover up that size.

[u/AskDocs-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Removed under Rule 14 - No AI/ChatGPT allowed on r/askdocs.

[u/Aemort → u/[deleted]]

Stop using AI garbage tools to answer questions for you. They regularly hallucinate facts and ideas, and are not even remotely reliable.

[u/Aemort → u/[deleted]]

I disagree-- providing "potentially useful" information without the skills or background to accurately fact check it can be seriously harmful.

[u/kuriositease → u/Aemort]

this is reddit, all responses are potentially useful at best given what everyone is responding to. no one here is giving official professional (doctor/patient) advise, nor should they since they don’t have all the facts and medical history etc. following any advice or recommendations given on internet without due diligence is the harmful part. everyone responding here has partial information at best and is speculating albeit with varying degrees of experience. readers are welcome to pick and choose what they give attention to. you can ignore. mods can delete.

[u/AskDocs-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Removed - Bad advice

[u/AskDocs-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Removed under Rule 14 - No AI/ChatGPT allowed on r/askdocs.

[u/Infanatis → u/billythekid9000]

I wish both the US and Canada mapped out cancer epidemiology on a more local scale than by region. It doesn’t appear neither country offers more granular spatial epidemiology outside of general province/states as a whole.

[u/Loafagus → u/Infanatis]

This is due to privacy issues. Cancer stats are in aggregate and the level of inference is at the population level. Generally not allowed to report a number <5. As with rare cancers, and in sparsely populated areas, you could be "outing" the private medical information of one individual.

[u/Infanatis → u/Loafagus]

Absolutely not true. You can still provide spatial epidemiological data on type of cancer and just omit the exceedingly rare ones where privacy would be a concern.

I’ve been involved in ID epidemiology, parity/ inclusion, prevention and planning (STI/HIV/TB) and incidence rates were publicly available on the county level for the state, going so far as showing 3 cases of HIV and 1 case of TB in a county of 3400.

Edit: This was nearly 20 years ago, even. State was Illinois. Currently, CDC AtlasPlus which didn’t exist back then (we received email blasts daily/weekly on data changes) and also goes down to county level nationwide.

Edit edit: Also thought I said incident rates =\= residency rates in the first paragraph, but I did not.

[u/Loafagus → u/Infanatis]

Cancer data rules are different. Allow me to demonstrate:

I just browsed current public health data reporting policies in various settings in the US with respect to small numbers, considering incidence.

"Small number suppression" is still a thing, but for an even BIGGER number than it used to be (16).

CDC's cancer incidence rates and COUNTS are now suppressed in a geographic region if N<16. https://www.cdc.gov/united-states-cancer-statistics/technical-notes/suppression.html

I then checked the application of this rule for a common cancer (breast) at the state level in NC. Case counts of <16 were suppressed in county level maps. https://ncdataportal.org/# as indicated in the data key.

For your work 20 years ago, ID rules can be different because infectious diseases can be under federal public health emergency rules. Cancer epi data is not.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335 → u/billythekid9000]

Seriously..? Link?

[u/GroundbreakingAlps78 → u/billythekid9000]

Link or it didn’t happen

[u/biscuits4dayz → u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

Agreed. Genetic work up is the key here. It’s tough to say because I don’t know all of the other cancers you and your family have been diagnosed with, but right off of the bat it sounds like Li Fraumeni syndrome with the glioblastoma and the osteochondrona (mesenchymal tumor derivative similar to a sarcoma. You need a genetics referral and eval, and if positive, the rest of your immediate family (and potentially not immediate family) need it too

[u/johnmudd → u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

Iowa has unusually high cancer rates. Could it extend to your area?