Residents of Houston's Fifth Ward cancer cluster to be screened for cancer indicators

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Residents in a Fifth Ward cancer cluster will soon be part of an inaugural cancer screening study that will be replicated across the country.

Council Member Dr. Letitia Plummer secured funding for the study from the National Minority Quality Forum. Plummer told ABC13 she connected with the health research group, also known as NMQF, while attending a Biden Cancer Moonshot conference in Washington, D.C.

The study will conduct blood analysis for indicators of cancer. Plummer said residents living 200 households currently at the center of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund investigation will take first priority for spots in the study. The EPA investigation is looking into a possible link between cancer clusters in the neighborhood and industrial contamination from an old wood treatment facility owned by Union Pacific Railroad.

SEE ALSO: EPA shares soil testing results to Fifth Ward, Kashmere Gardens residents in known cancer cluster

Plummer told ABC13 that after the deadline to sign up passes, any remaining slots in the study will be extended to those living outside the 200 household boundary. State data shows cancer clusters petaling out far beyond the confines of the Fifth Ward Neighborhood.

Residents who sign up for the study will have their blood analyzed once a year for four years at the Grace Clinic in the Fifth Ward.

Plummer said residents will be referred back to their healthcare providers if indicators of cancer are found. Those without insurance will be set up with sliding scale or free healthcare through Harris County.

Residents who want to learn more about the study are being asked to attend the DeLUXE Theater this Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Plummer said several officials will be set up at tables to speak inside the venue which will also show a documentary called "Houston's Fifth Ward Exposed." Those who cannot attend may call the Grace Clinic at: (713) 993-6000

At the event, residents will be asked to complete a screening. The data input will be cross-referenced with a list of names and addresses within the 200-home boundary. Those living outside of the boundary will be placed on a waitlist and contacted after the initial sign up deadline passes.

RELATED: 'Highly toxic' cancer-causing compounds outside Fifth Ward recreation facility, according to EPA

Plummer spent 15 months setting up the study -- a process that included securing United States Department of Health and Human Services Institutional Review Board clearance.

"This would not happen under my watch if it was not done this way. This is not a sham. This is the real deal and I'm a doctor, so I am making sure I am crossing every T and every I," she said.

The inaugural NMQF study will serve as a blueprint for the organization to roll out similar models in other cancer hot spots including Cancer Alley, Louisiana and Flint, Michigan.

"This is the first project, initiative, of this type that I am aware of that we have had. So, when I tell you that I'm excited and and really pleased by this, I'm bouncing inside. You just can't see it physically, but I'm bouncing inside because we've never come this far in terms of having direct, directly impacting, some form of health care for the people and early detection is critical," said Greater Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood President Joetta Stevenson.

Stevenson was part of a group of Fifth Ward Cancer Cluster residents that volunteered Monday to canvass their neighborhood alongside members of Plummer's office. They handed out fliers and encouraged fellow residents to sign up for the study and attend Thursday's meeting.

Resident and advocate Sandra Edwards told ABC13 she volunteered "Because there's too many people out here dying and nobody's doing anything for us."

Resident Camryn Easley told ABC13 she plans to sign up because "I grew up here in Fifth Ward. My grandmother, Barbara Beale, she passed here of cancer because of the creosote contamination. I have family members that have cancer that have been diagnosed. It's trying to continue the fight for her because she wasn't able to."

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SEE ALSO: Fifth Ward residents skeptical of 'cancer cluster' test results