Study finds increased risk of MGUS in Vietnam Vets exposed to Agent Orange

http://ekaweb02.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/tjnj-sfi090115.php

Public Release: 3-Sep-2015
Study finds increased risk of MGUS in Vietnam Vets exposed to Agent Orange
The JAMA Network Journals

A study that used stored blood samples from U.S. Air Force personnel who conducted aerial herbicide spray missions of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war found a more than 2-fold increased risk of the precursor to multiple myeloma known as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology.

While the cause of MGUS and multiple myeloma (plasma cell cancer) remains largely unclear, studies have reported an elevated risk of multiple myeloma among farmers and other agricultural workers and pesticides have been thought to be the basis for these associations, according to study background.

Ola Landgren, M.D., Ph.D., of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and coauthors examined the association between MGUS and exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War in a study sample of 958 male veterans, including 479 Operation Ranch Hand veterans who were involved in aerial herbicide spray missions and 479 comparison veterans who were not.

The study found the overall prevalence of MGUS was 7.1 percent in the Operation Ranch Hand veterans and 3.1 percent in the comparison veterans, which translates to a 2.4-fold increased risk for MGUS in Operation Ranch Hand veterans.

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