FALLON LEUKEMIA CLUSTER

• Sponsoring Institution: State Agricultural Experiment Station
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: STATE
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0218389
• Project Start Date: Sep 15, 2006
• Project End Date: Mar 31, 2011
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA
(N/A)
RENO,NV 89557

Performing Department
Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences

Non Technical Summary
A significant increase in the incidence of childhood leukemia was observed in Churchill County, NV between 1997 and 2002 in which 15 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were reported in an area with a population of fewer than 20,000 people where the expected rate would be 1 case in 2-3 years for a population of that size. In 2003 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a report concerning their investigation of the cancer cluster in this region and confirmed that a disproportionate increase did indeed occur during this time period (1). The exact cause for the increased incidence was not determined although several agents of interest were noted.

Animal Health Component

50%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

50%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
805	7310	1070	100%

Knowledge Area
805 - Community Institutions, Health, and Social Services;

Subject Of Investigation
7310 - Experimental design and statistical methods;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

water quality

leukemia

pollutants

Goals / Objectives
The goals of this project are to implement distribution of funds to support scientific research on the Fallon leukemia cluster which had occurred in Fallon, NV during a several year period. This will be in collaboration between the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and with the non-profit group, Families in Search of Truth (FIST). The goal of the research is to determine the potential causes for the increased cancer incidence in that region

Project Methods
Specific Aim (Task) 1: Establishment, advertisement of an RFA, implementation of a peer-review process to evaluate the proposals and award funding of research Subtask a: Proposal solicitation- A Request for Application (RFA) will be released by executive committee panel to solicit proposals researching the Fallon cancer cluster. Proposals will be allowed to cover a wide range of scientific disciplines related to the causation of cancer incidence in the region including, but not limited to: epidemiology, toxicology, environmental chemistry, cancer biology, carcinogenesis, immunology, genomic and proteomic analysis. Proposals will be due within 60 days of the release of the RFA. Subtask b. Proposal evaluation- All proposals will undergo extensive peer-review evaluation. Dr. William Murphy, PI on the proposal, will serve as chair of the review committee. Dr. Glenn Miller will also serve as a permanent member. The other members (up to six) will be recruited and selected based on the scientific disciplines of the applications received. Dr. Murphy will recruit the remaining members who will also include one statistician and a member of FIST. All proposals will be evaluated based on the NIH scoring system (1.0-5.0) and be assessed based on novelty, importance, innovation, environment, investigator and milestones proposed. The peer-review panel will convene to evaluate and score the proposals within 60 days of the closing date of proposal submission. The applicants will then receive in writing, the score and evaluation. Subtask c. Assurance of Compliance with Regulatory Issues- Selected applicants will provide documentation of compliance with regulatory issues (i.e. IRB, ACUC). In addition, all accepted applications will need to be compliant with all EPA regulations and guidelines. Appropriate Quality Assurance Project Plan(s) will be prepared by the awardees, submitted to UNR for collection and then forwarded to the EPA for approval by EPA prior to initiation of funding of selected proposals that involve data collection. Subtask d. Proposal Funding- A total of $600,000 have been designated for funding of proposals. It is estimated that two to three proposals will be funded. Award periods are for up to 3 years. Specific Aim (Task) 2- Evaluation of progress and dissemination of information. Subtask a. Monitoring progress of accepted applications- There will be yearly scientific progress reports detailing milestones achieved. Subtask b. Yearly Scientific Symposia- A scientific symposium will be held at or near the annual award date for the funded scientific projects (occurring at approximately 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 years of this proposal). All applicants will be requested to present in Nevada on the research performed. Research results are presented to both the scientific and lay community. The symposium will also include a roundtable discussion on future directions. Subtask c. Publication of Findings- All publications resulting from the studies must receive prior approval from the PI and must acknowledge the source of funds used.

Progress 09/15/06 to 03/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Draft of a special issue of ChemicoBiological Interactions. This issue will be completed in 2012 and will have the results of all research completed during the project period. PARTICIPANTS: Participants include USEPA Region IX, faculty from UC San Francisco and the University of Arizona (Tucson) medical school and tree ring laboratory. We also had members of the community in Churchill County participate. TARGET AUDIENCES: Our target audiences included residents of Churchill County, NV and researchers who work on leukemogenesis. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
We have no outcomes to report yet.

Publications

• We have 12 manuscripts that have been submitted as part of a special issue of the journal Chemico-biological Interactions, which will appear in March, 2012.

Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Fallon Leukemia Cluster -- Final Research Meeting. This meeting provided a forum for researchers involved in the project "An Integrative Study of the Leukemia Cluster in Churchill County, NV" to summarize and discuss their research as part of this three and a half year effort. It was the last meeting held to ensure that members of Families In Search of the Truth (FIST) and other interested people were informed about the results of research supported by a special allocation of $677,000 through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region IX). The research began in September, 2006 and was completed in March, 2010. The researchers discussed how to proceed with publishing the research results. Researchers compiled results. We developed press releases and organized a videoconferenced meeting that included four locations, including two in California and Arizona. PARTICIPANTS: Joseph Weimels, UC San Francisco Mark Witten, University of Arizona Ralph Seiler, U.S. Geological Survey Paul Shepperd, University of Arizona TARGET AUDIENCES: The audience included researchers involved in the project, family members from FIST, project officers from the Environmental Protection Agency (Region IX, San Francisco), members of county government in Churchill County and public interest groups. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No major changes.

Impacts
We are using findings to develop a research agenda to guide future research and discovery for leukemia cluster research. We are developing a special issue of Chemico-Biological Interactions to report the results of research supported by this funding.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: A poster presentation of some of our data was made at the Society of Toxicology National Meeting March 15-19, in Baltimore, MD. The presentation was titled "Well water high in tungsten, arsenic and polonium210 from Churchill County, Nevada induces oxidative stress in mice." Chris A. Pritsos, Karen L. Pritsos, Ralph Seiler and Lisbeth Welniak University of Nevada, Reno and USGS, Carson City, NV. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
In our last report, we reported on the results of the mitogenic activity in lymphocyte precursors following the exposure of the mice to up to 10 weeks from various water sources in Churchill County. As we stated, the tissues had been collected for the oxidative stress measurements and analyses were being completed. During this last quarter, we have completed all of the oxidative stress tissue analyses. All of the results have now been compiled from the three separate studies and statistical analyses has been completed on the data. A summary of the results of these analyses are provided in Table 1. The data are all compared to the UNR control data values. A "yes" indicates statistical significance with a P< 0.05 and a "No" indicates that it is not significantly different from the control site. We will now evaluate the results obtained from all of these studies and initiate the preparation of manuscripts to publish our findings.

Publications

• Fastje CD, Le K, Sun NN, Wong SS, Sheppard PR, Witten ML: Prenatal exposure of mice to tungstate is associated with decreased transcriptome-expression of the putative tumor suppressor gene, DMBT1: implications for childhood leukemia. Land Contamination and Reclamation, 17(1):169-178, 2009.
• Sheppard, P.R., Hallman, C.L., Ridenour, G., Witten, M.L. 2009. Spatial patterns of tungsten and cobalt on leaf surfaces of trees in Fallon, Nevada. Land Contamination and Reclamation 17(1):31-41.
• Sheppard, P.R., Ridenour, G., Witten, M.L. 2009. Multiple techniques for researching airborne particulates: a comprehensive case study of Fallon, Nevada. In Airborne Particulates, Ming Cheng, Wen Liu (eds.). Nova Publishers.