New Vietnam blight is cancer

Don Pardue thought the bullet that tore through his left lung in Vietnam in 1968 would kill him, but now he’s worried that a weapon he never saw or felt in the steamy jungles could make him a war victim yet.

Pardue, 62, of Dunwoody, is battling life-threatening prostate cancer. New research, published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Cancer, indicates exposure to Agent Orange is causing many thousands of cases of the disease in veterans —- four decades after they returned.

“We think mine is under control, but you never know if it’s coming back,” said Pardue, a real estate appraiser. “It’s scary.”

Scientists at the University of California-Davis found that veterans exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange are twice as likely to contract prostate cancer as unexposed troops. And worse, they say the cancer is likely to be an aggressive, deadlier form of the disease, which kills nearly 30,000 men every year. New cases are being diagnosed this year at the rate of 509 per day.

The researchers studied records of 13,144 veterans, and found that of 6,214 men exposed, 239 had prostate cancer, compared with 124 out of 6,930 who weren’t.

But more significantly, the study said, exposed veterans had more than three times the rate of metastasized cancer, which means it had spread to other areas. They were diagnosed at the average age of 59.7, compared with 62.2 years for those unexposed.

Pardue got the word at 55.

Dr. Karim Chamie, one of the study authors, said he expects thousands more veterans exposed to the defoliant to be diagnosed in their 60s, and at greater than the normal prevalence rate.

“These men have been studied before, but scientists weren’t looking at men in the peak danger years for prostate cancer,” he said. “These men in their 60s and early 70s should be screened more.”

Pardue’s treatments have been paid for by the federal government.

“I was rated 40 percent disabled because of the lung wound, and now I’m considered 60 percent disabled,” said Pardue, who is being treated with radioactive seeds implanted in his prostate. “I know some guys who’ve had the prostate entirely removed. And I know a lot who were there when I was who have it.”

Agent Orange was named so because of the color of the bands around the 55-gallon drums that contained it. About 20 million gallons were sprayed between 1962 and 1971. It contained dioxins, classified as a human carcinogen.

The defoliant, now banned, was used in many areas of Vietnam, but especially in places such as triple-canopy jungles near the Cambodian border where Pardue was a platoon leader.

About 300,000 of some 3 million vets have undergone tests for prostate cancer. About 100,000 have filed claims alleging their cancer was caused by Agent Orange, the study said.

Chamie said Agent Orange also has been linked to soft-tissue sarcomas, Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Pardue, who co-founded the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association after his return, said he went to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Decatur for help soon after his diagnosis, and returns every few months.

“I’m proud to have served, and I’ll be in Atlanta’s Veterans Day parade along with 70 or so other members of our group,” Pardue said. “I hope they’re all getting checked.”

That’s Chamie’s hope, too.

“The Vietnam War is still being waged,” he said. “It never ends.”

PROSTATE CANCER SYMPTOMS

> Trouble urinating.

> Starting and stopping while urinating.

> Blood in urine.

> Swelling in legs.

> Usually no symptoms in early stages, so many cases aren’t caught until detected after the cancer has spread.

RISK FACTORS FOR PROSTATE CANCER

> Incidence increases dramatically with increasing age. Unusual in men under 50.

> Hereditary to small degree.

> Black men have a higher risk of developing and dying from prostate cancer, for unknown reasons.

> If your father or brother has prostate cancer, your risk is greater.

> Diet. High-fat diet and obesity may increase risk.

> High testosterone levels.

Source: Mayo Clinic