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DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION
A review of the high number of cancer cases in Fort Resolution has pointed the finger at lifestyle – not the environment.

Dr. Andre Corriveau: most of the cancer increase in Fort Resolution related to lung cancer. - NNSL file photo

The review was prepared by an epidemiologist with the Public Health Agency of Canada at the request of the GNWT's Department of Health and Social Services.

"It confirmed that the cancer rates in Fort Res were higher than the territorial average," said Dr. Andre Corriveau, chief public health officer for the NWT. "So basically they were significantly above the average for other communities in the North, in our part of the North anyway, but most of the increase was actually related to lung cancer. I think it was twice the lung cancer rate that is occurring in other parts of the NWT. So there was no red flag in terms of an environmental cause."

Corriveau noted concerns were raised about the cancer rate in Fort Resolution with the minister of Health and Social Services last winter and the department requested help from the federal agency.

A field epidemiologist was sent to Fort Resolution in March to review cancer cases.

Corriveau and other officials from the Department of Health and Social Services presented the findings to the community at meetings last month.

The report, which looked at cases from 1992-2009, supported the observation that the incidence of new cancer diagnoses in Fort Resolution increased at a "significantly greater rate" than in the NWT overall between 2005 and 2009. In addition, it noted that two cases of multiple myeloma, which is rarely seen in the NWT, were diagnosed in that period.

A total of 52 primary cancer diagnoses – involving 48 people, since some were diagnosed with more than one primary cancer – were verified for the period 1992-2009. Plus, five other cases were provided by a nurse practitioner in the community.

The report stated that, when compared to the rest of the NWT, the number of cancer cases in Fort Resolution exceeded the expected number by 78 per cent.

"However, based on statistical findings alone, a definite conclusion cannot be made regarding the existence of a true cancer cluster for this community," it stated.

The report noted the difference between Fort Resolution and the rest of the NWT may be attributable to potential differences in cancer risk factors, such as high rates of smoking and longer duration of smoking, alcohol over-use, obesity, variation in the times of early detection due to different rates of participation in screening programs or missed diagnoses of early-stage cancers, and chance.

A high proportion of lung and colorectal cancers – 32.7 per cent and 21.2 per cent, respectively – was found among the cancer diagnoses in Fort Resolution.

Past or present smoking, or secondhand smoke exposure, was found in 95.6 per cent of cancer cases, while alcohol use was noted in 88 per cent of cases.

The report found no apparent familial or environmental risk that could account for the recent increase in cancer diagnoses. It noted community concerns centred on possible familial or environmental risk factors, specifically drinking water safety and fears of radiation contamination from the 1978 crash of the Soviet satellite Cosmos 954.

The report recommended enhanced surveillance of the incidence and types of cancers in Fort Resolution for the next five years.

"If the high rates are indeed due to chance, one would expect a leveling of the rate with time," it stated. "A continued increase in the cancer rate in Fort Resolution would support the findings of an actual difference between this community and the territory overall."

Other recommendations involved public education campaigns and prevention strategies, and in the long term, consideration of a formal research study.

Corriveau said the department supports more environmental monitoring as a way to provide greater trust in the environment and the food that comes from the environment, like fish, berries and traditional foods.

"We also have to work with the community to address the obvious risk factors that are there, as well, which are often related to lifestyle choices that people make," he added. "So we want to take a comprehensive approach to this issue and we will follow up. So, basically, this was like a first step to dialogue with the community."

Chief Louis Balsillie of Deninu Ku'e First Nation refused to take part in the meetings on the report – and has not read it – as the result of a conversation with Corriveau at the Akaitcho assembly in Dettah in August.

"He told me that, 'Most of your people smoke and drink too much in your community and overeat,'" Balsillie said. "That's why I didn't attend the meeting."

The chief said that is like saying it's the people's own fault they have cancer.

"I'm looking for a solution, not for somebody to tell me your people are drinking too much and smoking too much," he said. "I mean let's look at other alternatives. Let's look around."

Balsillie believes there are a number of possible environmental reasons for the increase in cancer, listing things such as asbestos in buildings, an abandoned fuel line under the community, the old Pine Point mine, oil sands development in Alberta and radiation from the Soviet satellite.

"What is it?" he said. "We need to put an answer to it. Not to say that your people smoke too much."

For Balsillie, like almost everyone else in Fort Resolution, the high cancer rate is not just a public issue, but a personal concern, as well.

The chief noted he has lost friends and relatives to the disease.

"Every month we're having funerals related to cancer, just about," he said.

Balsillie said he still wants to address the issue directly with the minister of Health and Social Services.

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