VDH report says cancer cases in Scott County do not meet “cancer cluster” definition

A Wednesday report released by the Virginia Department of Health says that the cancer rates in Scott County, Virginia do not meet the definition of a cancer cluster. The VDH press release said that its Virginia Cancer Registry conducted the  pediatric cancer investigation. The report says that cancer rates did not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of a cluster, based on the cases included in the 2014-2023 analysis. A cancer cluster is defined by the CDC and National Cancer Institute as “a greater-than-expected number of same or related cancer cases that occurs within a group of people in a defined geographic area over a specific period of time.” 24 survey responses from residents of Scott, Lee and Wise Counties were received with half of those responses came from Scott County, leading the investigation to focus there. Of those responses, five met the case definition, and three more were identified from current registry data. That left a total of eight cases to be included in the 9-year analysis used in the investigation. The report clarified that 2024 and 2025 data was not included due to the time it takes for cancer data to be finalized. A town hall is scheduled Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at Gate City Middle School to discuss the findings and answer questions.