By Kurt Bresswein
The Express-Times
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown with its fire department and firefighters union this past week partnered with a health-care testing company for a cancer screening.
Awareness is on the rise surrounding cancer as an occupational risk for firefighters. The National Fire Protection Association says federal studies show firefighters face a 9% increase in cancer diagnoses and 14% increase in cancer-related deaths, compared to the general U.S. population.
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The Allentown Fire Department in June 2023 lost retired Assistant Fire Chief Christopher Kiskeravage following a battle with cancer that his colleagues say was linked to his job. He was 56. A year ago in July, retired city Fire Marshal Jeff Tomczak died after fighting the disease for 15 months, at age 44. The union considers both line-of-duty deaths.
“For us it’s a very important thing,” said Lt. Jeffrey Warmkessel, president of the IAFF Local 302 Allentown firefighters union. “So anything we do for early detection or prevention is just a natural progression of steps that we want to take.”
The city included the screening test offered this past week, called EsoGuard, as a covered benefit under the department’s medical insurance plan, according to Warmkessel.
A team from New York City-based Lucid Diagnostics set up in an office of the city’s Mack Southside Fire Station and Training Academy, 1902 Lehigh St., to conduct the screening Tuesday through Thursday. Allentown heard of Lucid through union conventions and other events, Warmkessel said.
As the tests were wrapping up Thursday afternoon, 117 firefighters had participated with two more appointments to go.
EsoGuard specifically tests for Barrett’s esophagus, a risk factor for a form of esophageal cancer.
“Firefighters are 62% more likely than the average person to develop esophageal cancer and 39% more likely to die from esophageal cancer compared to the average population,” said Kelley Skantz, a registered nurse and clinical specialist with Lucid. “So we’ve been targeting them and going to different fire departments across the country to help them get access to the screening because we’re looking for the pre-cancer to esophageal cancer.”
The test involves swallowing a vitamin-sized capsule that inflates inside the esophagus and swabs for cells. It’s then deflated and pulled out, with the cells sent for testing at Lucid’s laboratory in Lake Forest, California. Results available in two to three weeks are then shared with the patient by a physician working with the company.
While considered rare, making up about 1% of cancer cases in the U.S., esophageal cancer has an overall five-year survival rate of about 20%, according to the National Cancer Institute. The survival rate rises the earlier it’s caught.
The link between firefighters and cancer is the focus of studies that include a National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, the largest effort ever undertaken to understand and reduce the risk of contracting the disease, according to the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Generally, firefighters are exposed to chemicals that could increase their risk of developing cancer, the CDC says.
“The job’s always been inherently dangerous by trade, but, you know, now we’re trying to curb it through prevention, through the equipment, and also prevention through getting testing,” Warmkessel said.
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