New Study Unable to Determine Cause of Rare Eye Cancer Cases in Huntersville

HUNTERSVILLE, NC – The cause of a rare eye cancer cluster near Huntersville remains a mystery, but the area where people are affected has grown.

Town commissioners received results from a new study Monday night that looked for similarities among patients.

Sue and Kenny Colbert listened, hoping for some clue about what cause their daughter to develop the rare cancer.

But the results of a new study didn’t shed much new light.

“I was.. disappointed.. I was not surprised,” Sue Colbert said.

“There’s no define answer to this. And that’s concerning,” Kenny says.

Huntersville Town Commissioners heard from experts who conducted what’s called a “Geospatial Investigation.”

They interviewed 15 of around 20 area patients, making where they’ve spent the most time.. school, home, and work.

They compared those locations to possible environmental issues or electromagnetic radiation.

“Historically there have been some toxic materials released to the air and water in the area, but nothing known to have possible associations to uveal melanoma,” said John Cassels, with Geodesy Inc.

It’s rare to see so much of this type of cancer in one area. Ocular melanoma impacts five people out of a million per year.

Typically those five people are older men. The cluster in the Huntersville area doesn’t fit that description.

The study did find patterns that expand the area of concern though. Originally, many of the patients were thought to have some connection to Hopewell High School and the surrounding area.

Now that area has expanded north toward Cornelius.

“I’m mostly sad for my girl. She died from this rare cancer. She didn’t have an opportunity to live a wonderful life,” Sue Colbert says.