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PA MEDIA ADVISORY

Release Date: 09/05/97
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1997
MEDIA ADVISORY
EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner is convening the first-ever federal conference to address the increase in childhood cancer and its possible link to environmental hazards. Administrator Browner will be joined by federal health officials and the nation’s leading experts in childhood cancer. The conference will be held Sept. 15-16 at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Va.
While the death rate from childhood cancer has declined, 8,000 children are diagnosed with cancer annually. There has been a steady increase for two decades in new cases for some cancers among children -- 60 percent in testicular cancer, 50 percent in one form of bone cancer (osteogenic sarcoma), 30 percent in brain cancer (glioma) and 10 percent in one form of blood cancer (acute lymphoblastic leukemia).

The conference will develop a strategy to guide the nation in its efforts to better coordinate research into the causes of childhood cancer. Leading experts on children’s health issues will speak on such issues as the special vulnerability of children to environmental toxins, chemicals and children’s environment, and risk factor identification, especially with brain cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and testicular cancer. From the conference, these experts will develop recommendations to advance federal research aimed at preventing environmental causes of childhood cancer.

R-126 ###