Researchers descend on cancer cluster community to find cause of deadly disease

Additional environmental testing officially started in a wealthy Southern California community on Sunday after six cases of a rare cancer disease sparked massive concerns.

Cal State Fullerton students and researchers gathered samples from three parks in the Ladera Ranch area in Orange County following outrage from residents after the rare bone and soft issue cancer called Ewing sarcoma made its way through members of the community.

The researchers went to the parks to see if there were any environmental links to the cancer cases.

“It’s very difficult to prove causation, and we don’t even know that this is environmental. It could be something else that’s potentially causing childhood cancers, but what we want to do is figure out if there is something in the environment. We can figure out if it’s here,” Professor Daniel Curtis of the chemistry department told NBC 4.

Researchers from the university could get test results as early as the end of this week.

This comes as Ladera Ranch residents demanded that its homeowners association stop spraying pesticides.

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During a Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corporation meeting last Wednesday, at least 10 residents spoke about pesticide use. One mother in attendance was someone who had lost her son to cancer earlier this year.

While there are no clear evidence that pesticides caused the disease, the deaths of several young people in the small community from the rare cancer fueled residents’ fears.

A 2024 county-level review was taken but the analysis did not find any unusual pattern. However, the community acknowledged the limited data during that time and called for a more “focused assessment.”

Ewing sarcoma most often affects young children and teens. It also only accounts for about 1% of childhood cancers, with 225 children being diagnosed per year according to Johns Hopkins.

Despite that, surrounding areas in and around Ladera Ranch have recorded 9 to 12 cases of Ewing and synovial sarcoma, with six reported deaths.

A 23-year-old girl named Lily Dalton died in January while a 17-year-old male named Brody Matteson passed away in March.

People from USC have also agreed to conduct their own research.