In a recent study, the U.S. Air Force has reported that “pilots have greater environmental exposure to ultraviolet and ionizing radiation.” Now, Air Force and Navy fighter pilots are citing this radiation exposure as the reason behind increased cancer rates among veterans — and calling on the military to provide earlier cancer screening tests.
"We are dropping like flies in our 50s from aggressive cancers," retired Air Force Col. Eric Nelson told McClatchy DC. Nelson was diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 48, shortly after he retired from the Air Force. He told McClatchy DC that many of his fellow pilots have also been diagnosed with prostate cancer, esophageal cancer, lymphoma, and glioblastomas.
Read MoreThe source of this increased exposure, current and former pilots told McClatchy DC, likely has to do with the radar systems installed in advanced jets as well as the oxygen generation systems in the jets' cockpits. Radiation damages cell DNA, and over time, the more the DNA has to repair itself, the more likely it is to develop a cancerous mutation.
The pilots who spoke with McClatchy DC did not say they would've avoided flying in these planes had they known about the cancer risks earlier; their concerns, rather, centered around the importance of screening for these cancers starting at a younger age, so as to identify the cancers early-on, while they are still very treatable.
"That would save lives," Nelson said of earlier routine cancer screenings. Currently, the military healthcare system covers prostate cancer screenings beginning at age 50 for those without a family history of the disease and after age 40 for those who do have a family history.
But the service members calling for the change say this isn't early enough; they're calling for screenings to begin closer to age 30.
"We need to be responsible and send an alert that people being exposed need to be screened earlier," retired Navy Commander Mike Crosby told McClatchy DC. "If it's caught early enough, there's a lot of procedures that can not just treat [prostate cancer] but cure it."
Crosby himself was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016, when he was 55 years old, and has since started the organization Veterans Prostate Cancer Awareness Inc., which has the primary goal of educating veterans on the importance of getting screened for prostate cancer.
RELATED: When Should I Get Tested for Prostate Cancer?
It's important to note that several studiesincluding the recent Air Force study that compared cancer rates between pilots and the rest of the militarydid not find a significant difference. However, the veterans and current pilots calling for earlier screenings told McClatchy DC that these results were not complete, since the Air Force study did not track the rates in former-pilots (only current ones), and radiation-linked cancers can take up to 15 to 20 years to surface.
When it Comes to Prostate Cancer Screening, Know Your Risk
"Doctors only know what you’re able to tell them in the course of a visit," Dr. Edwin Posadas, Medical Director of the Urologic Oncology Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center told SurvivorNet in a previous conversation about when to get screened for prostate cancer. "And so what you bring to the table can really help a physician to understand whether or not prostate cancer screening is appropriate for you."
Dr. Posadas said family history is important information to share with your doctor, as is ethnic background.
RELATED: Race & Ethnicity Matter for Prostate Cancer
The prostate cancer screening test itself, Dr. Posadas said, is relatively quick and simple; it consists of a blood test that measures your prostate-specific antigen and a digital rectal exam (digital meaning using the finger the doctor feels the prostate gland for abnormalities through the rectum.)
"Honestly, it takes less than 30 seconds to get it done," Dr. Posadas said. It’s relatively painless. I’m not saying it’s comfortable. But at the same time, the amount of information that can be gained from that is tremendous, and it can be a life and death type decision that is made."
Early Detection Can Be Lifesaving
When prostate cancer is found early on, before it has spread throughout the body, it is far easier to treat. This is true for most cancers, but when it comes to prostate cancer, stage I and II diagnoses have almost 100 percent 5-year survival rates (which means that almost 100 percent of people diagnosed live for at least five years.)
But when the cancer is detected at a later stage, after it has spread to distant areas in the body, this 5-year survival rate drops dramatically, to 30 percent.
The data makes clear that screening can be lifesaving, and for the U.S. fighter pilots citing higher-than-normal exposed to radiation during their service, beginning this screening early on, as Eric Nelson told McClatchy DC, "would save lives."
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