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State asks CDC to look into possible Henry County brain cancer cluster

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – State health officials have asked their federal counterparts for help investigating a possible cancer cluster in eastern Indiana’s Henry County.

The State Department of Health says Indiana’s cancer registry shows 26 people were diagnosed with a brain cancer type called glioblastoma in Henry County between 1999 and 2013.

The state agency began investigating in July after the registry and resident interviews showed another six diagnosed cases of that cancer during the past 23 months within a one-mile radius of that county.

Cancer clusters occur when the number of cases in an area is higher than expected or can be definitively linked to a specific cause.

Henry County’s cases don’t meet that threshold, but Indiana wants experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the possible cancer cluster.