Notadolly

Hi Timbo

I'd be really interested to hear from you about your Delta colleagues re brain cancer. I have some info you might like to hear. Maybe you could contact me please?

Thanks
Notadolly

N1CEandS1MPLE

That is a shame. I imagine that if there was some major connection between flying and cancer they would have addressed it by now. Prayers out to your friend, let him and yourself be healthy!

daxmavee

I saw this post because I had the same hunch that cosmic radiation would cause a high incidence of brain tumors in pilots. No I'm not a pilot, but I am researching primary brain tumors and wanted to put yall at ease or at least try. There have been many studies on this topic here is what I think is the most comprehensive of the studies.

Cancer incidence among 10,211 airlin... [Aviat Space Environ Med. 2003] - PubMed - NCBI

This is an extremely robust study of 10000 pilots which concludes:

"This large study, based on reliable cancer incidence data, showed an increased incidence of skin cancer. It did not indicate a marked increase in cancer risk attributable to cosmic radiation although some influence of cosmic radiation on skin cancer cannot be entirely excluded."

So I think you are just extremely unlucky and Im very sorry to hear about your friends. Im PMing you to ask you about your friends if you dont mind.

Best

Timbo

He died of Rectal Cancer, right?

So where was his tongue and his saliva??

That was a joke, just for him. I'm sure he would appreciate it.

Timbo

Sorry I didn't see your post until just now. It's been nearly a year, and my friend died of brain cancer (Glioblastoma) last June. At his funeral I spoke with one of his daughters, a 20 something lawyer in Seattle.

She said she had done some research and that type of brain cancer is specific to one type of person:

White Males, over 50, type A personalities!

Who does that sound like to you?

Airline Pilots!

She said she had a college room mate who'd dad also died of the same thing, he was a mid 50's white Lawyer. So, it may not be the cosmic or radio radiation, but the specific gene type that puts you at risk.

I told her I was glad I was a slacker, not a Type A!

HIFLYR

We have had several that I know of at FedEx die of brain cancer.

Timbo

I know of 6 Delta guys who all died of brain cancer, but that's over the past 25+ years. Here's what I found in two minutes on Google:

Other risk factors include:[23]
Sex: male (slightly more common in men than women)
Age: over 50 years old
Ethnicity: Caucasians, Asians
Having a low-grade astrocytoma (brain tumor), which often, given enough time, develops into a higher-grade tumor
Having one of the following genetic disorders is associated with an increased incidence of gliomas: Neurofibromatosis
Tuberous sclerosis
Von Hippel-Lindau disease
Li-Fraumeni syndrome
Turcot syndrome


Pathogenesis

Glioblastoma multiforme tumors are characterized by the presence of small areas of necrotizing tissue that is surrounded by anaplastic cells. This characteristic, as well as the presence of hyperplastic blood vessels, differentiates the tumor from Grade 3 astrocytomas, which do not have these features.

Packrat

Skin cancer is big among airline pilots. My Dad had skin cancer removed from his ears. Give some consideration to wearing some high SPF sun block when you fly. Especially above FL300.

daxmavee

So glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has 4 subsets: classical, neural, proneural, and mesenchymal. It sounds like there are a ton of ya'll with friends getting GBM. Like I said there are are many studies reporting there's no increased risk for GBM in pilots..... but from what I'm hearing here I gotta disagree. Additionally if the pilots being stricken with these tumors are evolving the same subtype of GBM it could have HUGE implications in the study of the disease.

Do any of yall happen to know more information about your friends tumors, any info could be really helpful.

Learflyer

I try and wear sunblock as much as possible. Especially because I'm a Citation X driver and that sun-is-a-shinin' at FL 470.