Health Officials Confirm Cancer Cluster

There have been suspicions of a cancer cluster for months in one part of Palm Beach County.

Now, health officials say it's for real.

The Palm Beach County Health Department has concluded that there is indeed a cancer cluster in the Acreage based on the latest population figures.

They say there were 13 children in the Acreage between 1997 and 2008 that had cancer. And experts say that area has elevated levels of brain cancer and central nervous system cancers, especially among female children ages 0-19.

"What that means is that there's more cancer out there than we would expect at a state or a national level," said Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the Palm Beach County Health Department.

"It's scary, it's bitter, it's sweet. I'm scared for the children in this community, I'm scared for all of us," said Tracy Newfield, a parent in the Acreage whose teenage daughter had surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2005.

What's causing the cancer cluster in the Acreage is unknown.

The county health department plans to meet with Acreage residents to go over the latest findings on the cancer cluster. That meeting is Tuesday night, February 9 at Seminole Ridge High School in Loxahatchee at 6:30.