Higher cancer rates found in military pilots and ground crews

A recent Department of Defense study found higher rates of many types of cancer among military pilots and ground crews who fuel, maintain, and launch aircraft.

The study reviewed almost 900,000 service members who flew on or worked on military aircraft between 1992 and 2017, and it found that aircrew members had a 24% higher rate of cancer of all types, including an 87% higher rate of melanoma and a 39% higher rate of thyroid cancer, while men had a 16% higher rate of prostate cancer and women a 16% higher rate of breast cancer.

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The data compared the service members with the general population after adjusting for age, sex, and race.

Comparatively, the study also revealed ground crews had a 3% high rate for all cancers, including a 19% higher rate of brain and nervous system cancers, a 15% higher rate of thyroid cancer, and a 9% higher rate of kidney or renal cancers, while women had a 7% higher rate of breast cancer.

Aircrews and ground crews both had lower or similar cancer mortality rates for all types of cancer when compared to the U.S. population, though the department noted there is a gap in its knowledge, mainly predating 1990.

The Pentagon added that this study “does not imply that military service in air crew or ground crew occupations causes cancer, because there are multiple potential confounding factors that could not be controlled for in this analysis,” such as family histories, smoking, or alcohol use.

Retired U.S. military aviators have long pushed the department to look into the subject, having raised concerns for years about the aircrew and ground crew members they knew who had cancer.

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Congress mandated the study be conducted in the 2021 defense bill, and the results have triggered the Pentagon to conduct an even bigger review to try to understand why the crews are getting sick.

The study was reported by the Associated Press.