The United States Department of Defense has released a new study examining the risk of cancer in military aviators compared to the general population. The Pentagon said the study is one of the largest and most comprehensive to examine the issue.
The study looked at cancer rates among 900,000 air and ground crew members from 1992 to 2017. Overall it found aircrews had a 24% higher rate of being diagnosed with all types of cancer compared to the general population, and ground crews had a 3% higher rate.
The report from the DOD found that not all cancers were the same, as some specific cancers were more prominent in either air or ground crews. For example, among aircrews, there was an 87% higher rate of melanoma, a 29% higher rate of thyroid cancer, and a 16% higher rate of prostate cancer.
For ground crews, the study found that service members had a 19% higher chance of cancers of the brain and nervous system, a 15% higher chance of thyroid cancer, and a 9% higher chance of melanoma, kidney, and renal pelvis cancers.
One form of cancer that both air and ground crews saw less of compared to the general population was lung cancer, the study highlighted.
The release of the study and its findings come after years of military studies found there was no higher risk for aviators, even though many service members had called attention to the rates of cancer observed, The Associated Press reported.
A cancer diagnosis doesn’t always turn out to be fatal, and the study found that while they may see more cases, both air and ground crews had “lower or similar” cancer mortality rates for all cancer types compared to the rest of the population.
The Department of Defense shared that this was only a primary study, noting that the “Phase 2 study” will look to identify risk factors for the cancer diagnoses identified.
The data from the study was pulled from a military health system database and did not include the Department of Veteran Affairs or state cancer agencies. The study adjusted data for age, sex, and race when comparing service members and the general population.
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