The Air Force has been investigating cases of rare pediatric brain cancers diagnosed in three military children at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico to determine whether the disease is more widespread in the region than previously reported or is occurring at higher rates than average.
Epidemiologists from the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine began assessing cases of diffuse midline glioma, or DMG, and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, at Cannon and in the surrounding area in January after concerns arose among families who have lived on the installation, according to a press release last week from the 27th Special Operations Wing.
According to wing leaders, the scientists not only will examine the rates of these cancers at Cannon, they also will look at all types of pediatric brain cancer diagnosed among children on the base, in the region and across other Air Force installations, as well as the civilian population.
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The concern over pediatric brain cancers at Cannon mirrors the distress at Patrick Space Force Base, then Patrick Air Force Base, roughly five years ago, when dozens of cases of cancer and at least eight diagnoses of rare brain cancers occurred on the Florida installation or around the nearby city of Satellite Beach, according to congressional testimony in 2020 by retired Army…
