Residents in Houston's Fifth Ward cancer cluster begin signing up for groundbreaking study
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A devastating cancer cluster in Houston's Fifth Ward is now leading to groundbreaking research.
On Thursday night, the first people signed up for a landmark study that could determine who is at risk of cancer and eventually help others across the country. Still, there is some skepticism in this predominantly Black community.
"I just really feel that some things need to be put in the open," Fifth Ward resident Kelvin Washington said.
Washington is one of several people living in cancer clusters in and around the Fifth Ward who took the first steps to enroll in a four-plus year early cancer detection study, completing a screening at the DeLUXE Theater Thursday night.
I really actually think that they got more money than we got timeKelvin Washington, Fifth Ward resident
"I had some family members die at a young age. My mother died at 45. I had a sister die," Washington continued.
SEE PREVIOUS STORY: Residents of Houston's Fifth Ward cancer cluster to be screened for cancer indicators
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund investigation is currently looking into whether the elevated cancer rates in this neighborhood are linked to a local industrial contamination site, now owned by Union Pacific Railroad.
"I really actually think that they got more money than we got time," Washington said.
Washington views the study as not only a way to buy more time but to fight back.
"I want to go the distance," Kathy Blueford Daniels, Fifth Ward resident and community advocate, said.
However, Daniels acknowledges that not everyone feels the same.
"People don't want to sign up because they don't trust the process and the people engaged in the process," Daniels said.
The study, which has been approved by the federal government, is being funded by the National Minority Quality Forum, a D.C.-based research and education group run by president Gary Puckrein.
"I'm a Black man in America, and I'm not gonna let anybody abuse our community, period. Full stop," Puckrein told ABC13.
RELATED: EPA shares soil testing results to Fifth Ward, Kashmere Gardens residents in known cancer cluster
Puckrein says NMQF procures its funding from a number of sources.
"Yes, pharmaceutical device companies, philanthropic organizations, government organizations-- we've gotten funding from a whole lot of people," Puckrein said.
We have to think about our children and our grandchildren, that this is not only about usLetitia Plummer, Houston City Council
Council Member Letitia Plummer, who brought NMQF to the community, says they'll use de-identified data from the study to build a database that their partners, like hospitals and drug companies, will use to bridge gaps in Black health care and cancer research.
"I want to be really clear, no one's a guinea pig here," Plummer said. "This is not backed by a pharmaceutical company. No one is selling anything. We have to think about our future. We have to think about our children and our grandchildren, that this is not only about us."
This is an inaugural study that NMQF plans to use as a blueprint, rolling out in other cancer hotspots like Flint, Michigan.
"I would tell my neighbors to do it, because it can always, the studies can help somebody else," Fifth Ward-Kashmere Gardens resident Dianne Stephens said.
Data shows Black Americans are disproportionately represented in clinical trials.
Plummer said one of the consequences of that is that some drugs that are out there do not work as well on people who are Black. She's hoping this database will not only be able to change that but push forward cancer research for everybody.
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
Deadline approaches for homeowners in known cancer cluster to allow soil testing for contamination
