Air Force Global Strike Command announced the latest findings of the Epidemiological Review of its Missile Community Cancer Study during a virtual Town Hall Thursday.

The results, compiled as Phase 1C of the Epidemiological Review, found no statistically significant increased incidents of cancer among the missileer community (MC) compared with the non-missileer community (non-MC). Statistically significant lower rates of Lung and Bronchus cancers, Prostate cancers, and cancers of all types were found in the MC compared with the non-MC. Medical professionals from the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine presented the findings of the review.

Rates of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma were found to be comparable between the two groups. 

“We have accomplished a lot in the last two years,” said Col. Gregory Coleman, AFGSC Command Surgeon. “We are making significant progress in building institutionalized processes to track hazards and potential exposures for our missile community and further the safety of our Airmen.”

Phase 1C used data from the National Death Index, which included 37,100 cancer deaths from the Department of the Air Force cohort between 1979 and 2020. Of those deaths, 1,145 were within the MC, while 35,955 were in the non-MC. Lung and Bronchus cancers were the most common cause of death in both groups, followed by Colon and Rectum cancers, and then Pancreatic cancers.

Compared with the U.S. population at large, cancer mortality within the MC was lower for cancer deaths overall, and specifically lower for Colon and Rectum, Lung and Bronchus, non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Prostate cancers.

While the data included in Phase 1C significantly expanded the reach of the Epidemiology Review, MCCS researchers cautioned that definitive conclusions won’t be possible until Phase 2 is complete later this year. Phase 2, the Virtual Pooled Registry, draws from a combination of state and territory cancer registries, and is expected to be the largest pool of data the study will examine.

“Phase 2 will provide significant larger numbers, so that will help us have a more wholesome understanding of the exposure for the missile community operators that have served, at least from the database, from ’79 to 2020,” said Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, AFGSC Commander. “Just as important is that we’ve institutionalized a mechanism to document exposure across the fabric of the decades, so that members that retire or separate can have that readily available if needed for the appropriate services from the Veterans Administration.”

The full Phase 1C portion of the Epidemiology Review can be found on the Missile Community Cancer Study website: https://www.airforcemedicine.af.mil/Resources/Missile-Community-Cancer-Study/